WITH    THE   BORDER    RUFFIANS 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

B.  H.  WILLIAMS,  J.P.,  .ETAT  70 Frontispiece 

PACING  PAGE 
SIOUX    INDIANS 76 

A   CATTLE    CORRAL 218 

THE    AUTHOR    IN    RANGER    UNIFORM  .  .  •    230 

Photographed  at  San  Antonio,  1863 

GIANT    CACTI   ON    THE    RIO    GRANDE    BORDER 352 

A    MEXICAN    PUEBLO 428 


INTRODUCTION 

HE  whose  adventurous  story  is  told  in  the  following 
pages  was  born  in  the  summer  of  1831,  the  eldest  of  a 
large  family,  his  father  being  a  country  clergyman. 

His  father  and  mother  intended  him  for  the  Church  ; 
he  himself  had  aspirations  for  the  Army,  or  the  Indian 
Service,  but  neither  could  be  managed  for  lack  of  means. 

Finally  he  went  to  sea  as  a  middy  on  Messrs.  Green's 
East  Indiaman  the  Madagascar,  sailing  from  London  in 
February,  1848,  when  he  was  nearly  seventeen  years  old. 
Green's  was  in  those  days  the  best  service  in  England  ; 
but  it  was  too  staid,  too  quiet,  for  a  youth  like  this, 
thirsting  for  adventure,  so  after  one  voyage  to  India  he 
gave  it  up. 

After  this  he  shipped  as  an  ordinary  seaman  on  a  Liver 
pool  barque,  bound  for  Callao  to  load  with  guano  at  the 
Pixo  Islands.  The  ship,  having  got  her  evil-smelling 
cargo  on  board,  returned  to  Callao,  where  the  boy  (he 
was  only  eighteen)  deserted  to  escape  the  brutal  ill- 
treatment  of  the  captain.  When  the  barque  had  sailed 
he  emerged  from  his  hiding-place  in  the  pampas,  and 
for  some  months  worked  as  mate  on  board  a  small 
coasting  brig. 

The  gold  fever  in  California  was  then  at  its  height,  and 
his  next  idea  was  to  get  to  the  new  Eldorado  if  possible, 
where  fortune  awaited  the  fortunate  and  adventures 
were  to  be  met  with  at  every  turn.  But  no  passage 
was  obtainable  for  love  or  money  ;  for  every  ship  bound 
for  San  Francisco  was  full  of  eager  gold-seekers  and  there 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

was  no  room  for  him.  So  at  last,  weary  of  waiting,  he 
shipped  as  an  A.B.  on  board  a  600-ton  barque,  bound 
for  Dundee  with  a  cargo  of  guano. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  tell  his  adventures  on  that  leaky 
old  tub,  which  took  six  months  to  roll  herself  round  the 
Horn  to  the  Cove  of  Cork.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
miserable  craft,  like  so  many  of  her  class  in  those  bad 
days,  was  short  of  hands,  short  of  provisions,  short  of 
water,  short  of  everything,  in  fact,  but  that  awful  guano 
that  pervaded  everything  on  board. 

With  a  dislocated  shoulder,  and  half  dead  with  scurvy, 
the  lad  was  discharged  at  Cork,  and  sent  to  hospital, 
whence,  being  then  as  tough  a  specimen  of  humanity  as 
you  could  wish  to  see,  he  speedily  made  his  way  home, 
in  no  way  the  worse  for  his  rough  experiences. 

But  he  wouldn't  give  up  the  sea  yet,  and  next  went  a 
voyage  to  Adelaide  in  a  full-rigged  emigrant  ship  named 
the  Andromache,  as  third  officer.  From  that  port,  which 
in  the  year  of  grace  1850  consisted  of  a  few  "  frame  " 
houses  and  many  streets  pegged  out  by  speculators,  they 
sailed  for  Melbourne,  where  the  young  ship's  officer  went 
wallaby-hunting  with  some  friends  over  country  now 
covered  with  villas  and  parks,  and  had  good  sport  of  its 
kind. 

When,  after  a  brief  holiday  at  home,  the  Andromache 
was  due  to  sail  again,  he  was  persuaded  to  give  up  the 
sea,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  settle  down  in  England. 
So  the  good  ship,  with  its  full  complement  of  passengers 
and  crew,  sailed  from  London  without  him,  on  what 
proved  her  last  voyage,  for  she  was  never  heard  of  more, 
and  must  have  foundered  with  all  hands  somewhere  on 
the  stormy  ocean. 

But  he  couldn't  settle  down  to  life  in  quiet  England  ; 
the  restless  craving  for  adventure  was  too  strong  on  him, 
and  if  he  must  leave  the  sea,  he  would  fare  forth  to  the 
West  and  the  backwoods  of  the  Great  Republic.  So, 
after  a  brief  apprenticeship  to  farming  with  the  Vicarage 


INTRODUCTION  xvn 

tenant,  he  sailed  from  Liverpool  on  a  small  barque  called 
the  Sutlej,  bound  for  City  Point,  Virginia. 

Having  given  this  brief  sketch  of  the  opening  chapters 
of  an  adventurous  life,  the  rest  of  the  story  shall  be  told 
mainly  in  the  words  of  the  actor  therein,  from  his  notes 
and  diaries,  supplemented  by  many  a  yarn  told  by  him 
to  the  writer  as  they  smoked  their  pipes  together  by  the 
happy  fireside  of  the  peaceful  English  home  in  which 
he  lived,  and  in  which  he  ended  his  days,  full  of  years  and 
full  of  honour. 

A  strange,  wild  story  it  is  too,  and  perhaps  worth  the 
telling,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  the  stage  on  which  it 
was  enacted  has  so  completely  changed  that  the  scenes  in 
which  the  adventurer  took  his  part,  and  the  life  he  led  in 
the  far  West  and  South,  can  never  recur  as  long  as  the 
world  endures.  Civilisation,  railways,  and  the  advancing 
tide  of  population  have  swept  them  into  the  limbo  of 
forgotten  things  so  completely  that  it  is  hard  to  realise 
that  such  a  state  of  society  could  ever  really  have  existed 
only  forty  or  fifty  years  ago. 

The  first  act  runs  its  course  in  Western  Virginia 
amongst  the  then  most  primitive,  simple,  and  manly 
race  of  farmers  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Far 
from  railways,  towns  and  civilisation,  these  simple  folks 
led  their  pastoral  lives  in  great  content  and  comfort.  All 
their  wants  were  self-supplied,  to  their  very  clothes, 
which  they  spun  and  weaved  and  made  themselves. 
Work  on  their  farms,  hunting  and  fishing,  a  visit  to  the 
distant  "  Court  House  "  in  the  far-away  town  or  village, 
with  now  and  then  a  "  preaching  "  or  "  camp  meeting," 
filled  their  lives,  and  they  were  content. 

Act  the  Second  has  for  its  scene  the  wildest  of  the 
Wild  West — Kansas — where  in  1855-56  was  fought  the 
prelude  to  the  great  War  of  Secession,  the  epoch-making 
struggle  between  North  and  South,  which  settled  once  for 
all  the  burning  question  of  slavery  or  freedom  for  the 
negro  in  the  United  States.  In  that  border  region,  where 

b 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

each  man  was  a  law  unto  himself,  and  life  was  not  valued 
"  at  a  pin's  fee,"  deeds  were  done,  on  both  sides,  at  which 
we  may  well  shudder. 

The  story  is  a  dreadful  one,  but  it  is  fairly  and  frankly 
told  by  him  who  took  an  active  part  on  the  pro-slavery 
side,  and  who  never  hesitated  to  risk  his  life  for  the  cause 
he  had  espoused. 

Act  the  Third,  after  a  brief  interlude  at  home  and  in 
Canada,  opens  in  Texas,  on  a  cattle  ranch,  in  the  heart 
of  the  Comanche  (Indian)  country. 

Cattle  raising  and  desperate  fighting  with  the  Co- 
manches,  the  most  warlike  of  all  the  Indian  tribes,  fill 
the  first  scenes. 

Then  comes  the  War  of  the  Secession. 

Shortly  after  the  end  of  the  war  in  1865,  the  curtain 
falls,  and  the  story  is  finished. 


Of-    THE 

UNIVERSITY 


&6i£70. 


WITH    THE 

I  BORDER  RUFFIANS 

I     MEMORIES  OF    THE    FAR  WEST 

I  1852—1868 

I  BY    R.    H.    WILLIAMS 

SOMETIME    LIEUTENANT     IN    THE     KANSAS     RANGERS 
AND  AFTERWARDS   CAPTAIN   IN   THE  TEXAN    RANGERS 

EDITED   BY   E.   W.   WILLIAMS 


WITH     PORTRAITS 


XviU:i 


TY 


NEW   YORK 
E.    P.   DUTTON   AND    COMPANY 

1907 


PRINTED   BY 

HAZELL,    WATSON   AND  VINKY,    LI>., 

LONDON    AND   AYLESBURY, 

ENGLAND. 


CONTENTS 

BOOK   I 
WESTERN    VIRGINIA,    1852-54 

CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

WESTWARD   HO  !  .  .  .  .  .  .  3 

Then  said  now — The  Steerage  of  the  Sutlej — Jack 
Galliers — Richmond,  Virginia — The  Canal  Boat — 150  miles' 
tramp— A  Veteran  of  1812. 

CHAPTER   II 
A  BACKWOODSMAN'S  HOME       ...  13 

A  Forest  Farm — Primitive  Customs — Jack's  Opinion  of 
them— My  First  Deer — On  the  Road  to  Princeton— The 
Inhabitants  thereof. 

CHAPTER   III 

THE   FARM   ON   THE   BLUESTONE  ....         23 

A  Court-day  Gathering — George  Daily  and  his  Farm — I 
become  a  Land-owner — The  Road-makers. 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE   CAMP   MEETING 32 

By  Road  and  Canal  to  Richmond  again — Jack  and  I  at 
Work — Whiskey  parts  us — The  Camp  Meeting — Good  Aunt 
Rhoda — Kindly  Slave-owners. 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V 

PAQB 

DURANCE   VILE 39 

"  Still  "  Hunting — Burnett  and  George  Paris — Horse 
Trading  —  A  Plausible  Tale  —  I  lose  $250  —  and  nearly 
lose  $3,000— My  Clever  Dog— A  Forest  Fire— In  the  Prince 
ton  Gaol. 

CHAPTER   VI 

A   DANCE   AND    A   FIGHT 48 

Jack  Galliers  again — Out  on  Bail — Settlement  with 
Paris — A  Rough  and  Tumble — Cattle -dealing — Sport  in 
Western  Virginia. 

CHAPTER   VII 

ON    THE    ROAD    TO   KANSAS 59 

Slave-owning — Restrictions  on  moving  Negroes — Ice  on 
the  Mississippi — Frost-bound  in  St.  Louis — A  Risky 
Acquaintance — The  Ice  breaks  up,  with  ruin  in  its  train. 


BOOK   II 

KANSAS   IN    1855-59 
CHAPTER   I 

THE    RIVAL   PARTIES  .  .  .  .  .  .73 

A  450-mile  Ride — The  Runaway's  Death — "  Johnny 
Cake" — Leavenworth  "City"  in  1855 — The  "Boss" 
Gambler — House  Building — Buffalo  on  the  Prairie — First 
Meeting  with  Wild  Indians — Causes  of  the  Kansas  "  War  "  ; 
the  Prelude  of  Secession. 

CHAPTER   II 

WITH    "  THE    BORDER   RUFFIANS  "      .  .  .  .83 

I  join  a  Ranger  Company — Stopping  "  Free  Soilers  " — 
The  Sack  of  Lawrence — Murders  at  Lone  Jack — Foraging 
leads  to  Shooting — Promoted  2nd  Lieutenant — I  Nar 
rowly  Escape  Hanging — Stripped  and  Turned  Loose. 


CONTENTS  vii 

CHAPTER   III 

PAOB 

CLAIM-MAKING,    AND    SQUATTER   RIGHTS     ...         93 

The  Delaware  Reserve  Sales — Scenes  at  the  Auction — 
Owner    of    a  Gambling     Saloon — Claim- making    on     the 
Shawnee    Reserve — "  Shad  "     the     Frontiersman — Judge 
Lecompton — Attempt  to    Arrest     Clino — Fracas     at     the 
Preaching — My  Claim  is  "Jumped." 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE   FRAY   AT   MONTICELLO 103 

Settling  down  on  Cedar  Crejk — Claim -jumpers  Again — 
Wagon-master  with  Major  &  Russell — A  Bully  at  a  Dance — 
Shawnoo  Half-breed  Girls — Sally  Blue-Jacket — A  Shawnoo 
Execution — Member  of  Johnson  County  Board — Sunday 
at  the  Ranch — A  Fight  between  Rival  Squatter  Associa 
tions — Death  of^Molesby — A  well-armed  Funeral  Party. 

CHAPTER   V 

THE   CAPTURE   OF  MILINER 114 

A  Western  Tornado — A  Lawsuit  re  Cedar  Creek  Claim — t 
A  Western  Water- wizard — A  Cold-blooded  Murder — A 
Stealthy  Ride  into  Missouri — A  Clever  Catch — A  Trial  and 
a  Fiasco. 

CHAPTER   VI 

LAST   DAYS   IN   KANSAS 125 

Miliner  Let  Loose — A  Trip  to  Fort  Kearney  with  Forty- 
five  Wagons — Through  the  Sioux  Country — A  Vast  Herd  of 
Buffalo — The  Daughter  of  Tecumseh — Wintering  Cattle  for 
"  Billy  "  Russell — Margaret  Hendricks,  a  Typical  Western 
Girl — dine  redimvua — His  Threats  of  Vengeance — He 
takes  out  a  Warrant,  and  I  leave  Kansas. 

CHAPTER   VII 

KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THENCE  TO  TEXAS  .     .136 

Kidnapping  on  the  Mississippi — Crossing  the  Alleghanies — 
Changes  at  Home — I  revisit  Monticollo — Engineering  at 
Philadelphia — There  I  meet  Thompson — Go  to  Canada 
with  him — We  decide  against  Canada,  and  for  Texas — The 
Journey  thither — Landing  at  Indianola. 


viii  CONTENTS 

BOOK   III 

TEXAS,    1860-62 
CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

PROSPECTING .147 

Leave  Hospitable  Indianola,  and  start  Up  Country — En 
route  for  the  Nueces — Adventures  by  the  Way — Camp 
Fare— The  "  Colonel  "  Grumbles— Short  of  Water— Mosqui 
toes — Corpus  Christi — A  Fresh  Outfit — Lawyer  Davis — 
"  The  Colonel  "  and  the  Pack  Pony— The  Bandera  Country 
— The  Lost  Horses — We  Buy  a  Ranch — and  stock  it — -Our 
Possessions — Texas  goes  for  Secession — A  Political  Meeting 
— The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Cross. 

CHAPTER   II 

AN   INDIAN   FORAY 161 

Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee — The  Surrender  of  General  Twig — 
I  Join  the  Volunteers — The  Deserted  Mormon  Settlement — 
The  Expedition  to  Val  Verde—"  The  Major  "—My  First 
Brush  with  Comanches. 

CHAPTER   III 

THE   VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S   WORK  .  .  .172 

I  go  on  Scout — 700  U.S.  Troops  Surrender — Thompson's 
deal  with  them — Mustered  Out — Mixed  Bathing — Dan 
Ragsdale — We  Sell  the  Medio  Ranch,  and  Buy  Ragsdale's 
on  the  Frio — "  Daddy  "  Green — The  Horse-thief's  Fate. 

CHAPTER   IV 
A  RANCHER'S  PARADISE   .         .         .         .         .         .183 

Juan  the  Vaqu6ro — First  Ride  to  the  Frio — The  Finest 
Ranch  in  Texas — Riding  up  and  down  it — "  The  Colonel  " 
goes  Indian  Hunting — and  much  enjoys  it. 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER   V 

PAOK 

ASA   MINSHUL,    PREACHER  .  .  .  .  .195 

The  War  Fever— The  Young  Ranger's  Fate — A  Secret 
Society  and  its  Head — Asa  and  the  Rope — General  Sibley 
and  New  Mexico — Third  Trip  to  the  Frio — My  Pet  Deer  and 
its  End— Colonel  Sydney  Johnson— A  Patriarchal  Proces 
sion — The  House-warming. 

CHAPTER   VI 

GENERAL   HOOD  ....  .       20G 

"  Hunting  "  on  the  Frio — "  Lobos  "  and  Coyotes — Co- 
manches  on  the  Warpath — How  they  killed  the  Reedors — 
Fort  Inge  and  Lieutenant,  afterwards  General,  Hood — What 
he  did  at  Gaines'  Mill. 

CHAPTER   VII 

THE    HORSE-STEALERS          .  .217 

"  Calf -branding  " — Running  Mustangs  and  Stray  Horses 
— Jack  Vinton — Mexican  Horse-thieves — Their  Punishment 
—The  War  Fever— I  catch  it. 


BOOK    IV 
IN   THE   CONFEDERATE  SERVICE 

CHAPTER   I 

TRACK      ....     229 

Enlisted  for  the  Front,  but  kept  in  Texas — Our  Rascally 
Rulers — Fool's  Errands  of  Sorts — A  General's  Inspection — 
Friedricksburg  and  the  Bushwhackers — Martial  Law  as 
Administered  by  Dunn — A  Rough  March. 

CHAPTER   II 

THE   FIGHT — AND   AFTER  ......       242 

In  a  Mountainous  Country — A  Night  Attack — The 
Germans  lose  heavily — Dastardly  Work — Luck  would  like 
to  Shoot  me — With  the  Bearer  Party  to  Fort  Clark — How 
Luck  paid  me  out. 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   III 

PAGE 

A.   RIDE    FOR   LIFE 254 

To  the  Frio  with  Loo  Ojc — Indians  in  the  Country — Buz 
zards  on  tho  Frio — What  we  saw  at  the  Crossing — One  Hun 
dred  Yards'  Start — A  Lucky  Shot — A  Long  Chase — What 
Dunn  did  with  his  Prisoners — Futile  Efforts  to  quit  his  Com 
mand — A  Quarrel  in  Quarters — In  Vino  Vcritas. 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE    FOUR   MEXICAN    DESERTERS          ....       265 

Recruiting  on  the  Frontier — Magrudor  at  Galveston — A 
Restful  Day  at  tho  Ranch — A  "  Doctor's  "  Diploma — The 
Killing  of  Antonio — I  call  in  Asa  Minshul — The  Four  Horse 
men  on  the  Prairie — The  Capture,  and  After. 

CHAPTER   V 

THE    COTTON-STEALERS 277 

The  March  to  Brownsville — The  Hebrew's  "  Rifle 
Whiskey  " — A  Fandango — News  from  the  Outer  World — 
Am  mistaken  for  a  Deserter — Tho  Officers  of  tho  3rd  Texas — 
A  Yankee  Brig  Ashore — What  befell  her  Cargo — Kaupmann 
and  his  Sixteen  Garments — Cotton  Dealings — Tho  Prices  of 
Goods. 

CHAPTER   VI 

THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 287 

The  Yankees'  Supposed  Landing  at  Boca  del  Rio — Tho 
Funk  at  Brownsville — Scouts  returning  increase  it — Wasp 
Fires  the  Barracks  and  Stores,  and  makes  his  celebrated 
Retreat  to  tho  San  Gertrudes — Vidal  "  goes  Fanti  "- 
Plunders  tho  Ranches,  and  joins  Cortinas — Lawyer  Davis 
turned  Colonel — His  Camp  near  Boca  del  Rio — Volunteers 
for  a  Night  Expedition — A  Forty -mile  Ride — Capture  of  tho 
Mexican  Guard  House — Deserters'  Camp  Surprised — The 
Leaders  Taken — Their  Fate — I  escort  Davis  to  Magruder's 
Camp — His  Subsequent  Release — My  Last  Meeting  with 
him. 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER   VII 

PAOE 

MY    FRIEND    GOES   HOME 299 

Premature  Rejoicings — Tricked  out  of  a  Commission 
Again — A  Magnanimous  Foe — Thompson  Turns  up  at 
Brownsville — Yellow  Fever — Nearly  Convalescent — Has  a 
Relapse — Nursing  my  Sick  Friend — Ho  tells  me  his  Story 
— He  goes  "  Home  "  at  Sunrise — I  Purchase  a  Substitute 

— 1  get  a  Mail  at  Matamoras. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

IN    COMMAND    AT   LAST  ! 310 

Sixes  and  Sevens  at  the  Ranch — My  Friend  Johns — His 
Captive  and  his  Pantaloons — The  Renegades  at  Piedras 
Negras — Mustangs  for  Sale — A  Charging  Steer — Universal 
Conscription — A  Commission  from  the  Governor  of  Texas. 

CHAPTER    IX 

A   LONG   SCOUT 320 

A  Two -hundred  Mile  Ride  to  Lorado — Moke  Permanent 
Camp  for  my  command — Sport  with  "  Lobos  "  and  Coyotes 
— Join  Major  Hatch's  Command  011  an  Indian-hunt — 
Ho  Misses  his  Chance — March  to  Fort  Lancaster — Indian 
Paintings  at  Piedra  Pintada — San  Felipe  Springs — Fort 
Hudson — Dan  Westfull,  the  Trailer — Scouting  with  Dan — 
Crossing  the  Pecos. 

CHAPTER   X 
WESTFALL'S  STORY  .......     332 

The  Camp  in  the  "  Mott  "—A  Fire  and  a  Sleepless  Night— 
A  Sudden  Attack — McCarthy's  Answer — The  Comanches 
Draw  Off — Yarns  round  the  Camp  Fire — Dan  Westfall  tells 
His — The  Notches  on  his  Rifle — The  Deserted  Ranch  on 
the  Leona. 

CHAPTER   XI 

THE   DESERTERS   SURRENDER 343 

The  Scouts  Report  a  Band  of  Indians — I  find  it  a  Body 
of  White  Men — I  call  on  Them  to  Surrender  on  Promise  to 
Spare  their  Lives — The  Leader  Yields  in  Nick  of  Time — 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Major  Hatch  wants  to  Hang  Them — My  own  Boys 
Support  my  Refusal — "  Now  See  to  it  that  I  haven't  to 
Shoot  You  " — Fruitless  Wanderings  after  Indians — Sent 
on  Scout  with  Mexicans — Their  Cowardice — We  white  men 
hold  a  Strong  Position — No  Water  and  no  Tobacco  ! — Eight 
of  the  Deserters  Escape. 

CHAPTER   XII 

WATER  !     OR   WE    DIE  ! 353 

A  Dry  March— The  First  Day  without  Water— The  Major 
Still  Obstinate— The  Second  Day  without  Water— The 
Third  Day  we  can  stand  it  no  longer — A  Disorganised 
Rabble— A  Drink  at  Last— The  Major  and  I  Part— The 
Back  Trail — A  Difficult  and  Unknown  Country — Westfall 
Brings  us  Through. 

CHAPTER   XIII 

THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 363 

Magruder  and  "  Commissary  "  Banks — Colonel  Ford  and 
his  Merry  Men — Resignation  of  Comnicind  and  Re-election — 
The  Expedition  to  Fort  Lancaster — Major  Hunter's  Re 
connaissance — The  Enemy's  False  Security — A  Night 
Attack — Surprise  and  Rout  of  Californians. 

CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   JUMPING    "  BUCKS  " 373 

An  Unfortunate  Spec. — Comanches  Again — A  Race  for 
Cover— Wo  Hold  a  "  Mott  "—Jack  Hillson's  Shot— A  Chip 
of  the  Old  Block — The  Fight  on  the  Hondo — €omanches  in 
Strong  Position — I  Shoot  the  Big  Buck — A  Charge  and  a 
Surprise — The  Indians  Bolt. 

CHAPTER    XV 

FRENCH   OF   THE   LEONA 383 

Jim  and  Dick  French — The  Murder  of  the  Mexicans — 
French  senior  Hanged  in  Front  of  the  Padre's  House  in  San 
Antonio — The  Boys  Agree  to  Bide  their  Time — Jim  and 
Dick  Avenge  their  Father's  Death — I  meet  them  at  Atacosa 
Court  House — Their  Doings  There — Their  Search  for  Asa 
Minshul. 


CONTENTS  xiii 

BOOK   V 

THE   BREAK-UP,    AND   AFTER 
CHAPTER    I 

PAGE 

MY  COMPANY'S  LAST  INDIAN  FIGHT         .        .        .     395 

Tho  End  of  Secession — Activity  of  the  Indians,  Burning, 
Slaying,  Scalping,  on  the  Middle  Nuocos — They  Kill  the 
Cousin  of  my  junior  Lieutenant,  Dan  Williams — Ho  and 
Fred  English,  the  senior  Lieutenant,  sot  off  in  Pursuit — 
I  Catch  Them  up  too  Late — How  these  Lads  threw  Away 
their  Lives — A  Near  Thing — Keeping  the  Indians  on  the 
Run — Burying  our  Dead. 

CHAPTER  II 

CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CARISA      ....      404 

Tho  Ruin  of  the  South— Clemency  of  the  North— Tho 
Federals  in  San  Antonio — Lenient  Treatment  of  the  Fried- 
ricksburg  Murderers — Tho  Federal  General  offers  me  a 
Captain's  Commission — Tho  Hunt  for  Lost  Cattle — My 
Reception  at  my  Friend's  Ranch — A  Morning's  Fishing — I 
Nearly  got  Caught  Myself. 

CHAPTER   III 

THE    "  PRAIRIE    SCHOONER  "    ON   THE   HILL          ,  .      415 

Heavy  Going  Stops  Pursuit  of  Thieves — Return  to  the 
Carisa — News  from  the  "  Prairie  Schooner  " — To  the  Rescue 
—The  Scene  at  the  Camp  Fire— Tho  Wounded  Man— Thirst 
for  Vengeance — A  Melancholy  Procession — Cattle-driving 
on  the  Prairie — Voices  of  the  Night — Working  the  Cha 
parral — A  Message  from  the  Alcald6  of  San  Juan. 

CHAPTER   IV 

CATTLE-DEALING   IN   MEXICO 427 

"  El  Rio  Bravo  " — President  Diaz — The  Pueblo  of  San 
Juan — Tho  Inhabitants  Thereof — A  Typical  Mexican 
Village  of  those  Days — The  Houses  and  their  Occupants — 
Tho  Alcalde  and  his  Vonta — Arrieros  to  the  Rescue  ! — 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAQB 

"  Liberales  y  los  Coutrarios  " — A  Restless  Night — Arrival  of 
the  Partido — Hiding  the  Cattle — Don  Immanuel  gives  a 
Feast— A  very  Special  Dish— The  Deal  Concluded—"  Vaya 
te  Con  Dios  !  " 

CHAPTER    V 

DROVING   TO    NEW   ORLEANS 438 

Start  with  220  Prime  Beeves— The  Stampede— Twenty- 
five  Head  Lost — The  Cotton  Region — Ruin  of  the  Planters 
— Conduct  of  the  Freedmen — A  Mulatto  Slave-owner — 
Thunderstorm  in  the  Bush — Another  Stampede — A  Lucky 
Find — I  Sell  my  Cattle  on  Border  of  Louisiana,  but  go  with 
them  to  New  Orleans — I  go  into  a  Hog  Spec. — Hog-driving — 
a  Trial  of  Patience — Floundering  Through  an  Icy  Swamp — 
Ship  463  of  the  Brutes  on  ss.  Tatan  at  Chafalaya  Landing. 

CHAPTER    VI 

A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 450 

At  the  Hog-pens — Waiting  for  the  Verdict — Noel's  two 
good  Shots — The  Market  is  Bad  ! — I  clear  out  at  a  Heavy 
Loss — New  Orleans  after  the  War — Artemus  Ward's 
Lecture — The  Keans  in  "  Macbeth  " — The  Boss  Gambler — 
The  Tables  Turned  on  Him — On  the  Magnolia  to  Indianola 
—Waiting  for  the  Train— A  Texan  Station  Master—"  The 
Railroad's  on  the  Tight  !  " — The  "  Engineer  "  and  his 
Boilers — Left  in  the  Lurch — Conductor  goes  in  search  of 
the  Train — Reach  Victoria  at  Last — Thence  by  Stage  to  San 
Antonio,  where  I  have  News  from  Mexico. 

CHAPTER    VII 

CATTLE    IN    SMALL   COMPASS 461 

Return  to  the  Frio — Cattle  Droving  to  Monterey — A 
Quarrel  on  the  Leona — My  Last  Brush  with  tho  Comanches 
— A  Successful  Deal  and  a  Safe  Return  with  tho  Plunder— I 
hand  over  the  Ranch  to  Jack  Vinton  and  start  for  San  Antonio, 
en  route  for  Home — Luxuries  of  Ocean  Travel — England 
in  the  Leafy  Month  of  June — Bad  News  from  Texas — I 
Return  to  wind  up  my  Affairs — Mr.  Spofforth's  Tempting 
Offer — Tho  Firm  of  Hughes  &  Co.,  Beef  Packers — Yellow 
Fever  at  Indianola — Dr.  Hughes'  Confrere — Sam  Slocum — 
His  Grievance  against  his  "Ma" — Tho  Packing  Business 
a  Failure — I  sell  my  Ranch  and  Stock,  and  leaving  Texas 
for  good,  settle  down  in  England. 


BOOK    I 

WESTERN  VIRGINIA 

1852-54 


CHAPTER    I 

WESTWARD    HO  ! 

IT  was  in  the  early  spring  of  the  year  1852  that  I  sailed 
from  Liverpool  to  seek  my  fortune  in  the  United  States. 

Those  who  have  not  personally  watched  the  growth 
of  that  marvellous  country  cannot  realise  the  changes 
those  fifty  years  have  wrought,  so  long  in  a  man's  life, 
so  short  a  span  in  a  nation's  history.  Then  there  were 
thirty-one  States  in  the  Union  with  a  population  of  about 
twenty-five  millions  ;  now  there  are  forty-one  States,  and 
the  population  verges  on  eighty  million  souls.  Railways 
were  comparatively  few  ;  now  there  are  nearly  two 
hundred  thousand  miles  in  operation. 

When  I  first  went  West,  in  the  early  'fifties,  all  the 
region  west  of  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains,  from  about  35°  N.  to  the  limits  of  what  are  now 
the  States  of  North  Dakota  and  Montana,  was  inhabited 
only  by  roaming  bands  of  Indians,  except  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  where  there  were  a  few  settlers.  Where  to-day 
stand  flourishing  towns  and  cities,  and  over  the  plains 
where  now  is  hoard  the  busy  hum  of  the  steam  reaping 
and  thrashing  machines,  roamed  countless  thousands 
of  buffalo  ;  as  extinct  to-day  in  those  lands  as  the  dodo 
is  in  his. 

But  the  greatest  change  that  Time  has  brought,  since 
I  first  knew  the  States,  is  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery. 

In  those  days  the  Southern  States,  with  their  great 
"  Institution,"  were  at  the  zenith  of  their  power,  and 
were  ambitious  of  extending  it  beyond  the  boundary  to 

3 


4  WESTWARD    HO! 

which  they  had  been  restricted  by  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  of  1820. 

I  fought  for  that  cause  in  Kansas,  in  what  may  be 
called  the  prelude  to  the  great  struggle  between  the  North 
and  South,  and  in  Texas,  and  elsewhere,  afterwards  ; 
for  in  those  days  I  believed  in  slavery,  and  owned  some 
few  negroes  myself.  Looking  back  through  all  these 
years,  whilst  I  sit  by  my  quiet,  happy  English  fireside,  I 
confess  that  I  was  mistaken,  and  freely  admit  that  it  is 
well  the  great  fight  ended  as  it  did.  But  though  I  make 
this  admission,  I  think  it  is  only  right  to  put  it  on  record 
that,  as  far  as  my  own  personal  observation  went,  the 
cruelties  of  slavery  have  been  over-drawn. 

The  separation  of  families,  by  the  sale  of  the  father, 
mother  or  children,  was  cruel  and  detestable.  Doubtless 
there  were  here  and  there  brutal  masters,  and  worse 
overseers  ;  but  these  were  the  exception.  Negroes,  it 
must  be  remembered,  were  chattels,  and  most  valuable 
chattels  too,  and  it  was  the  owner's  interest  to  treat  them 
well.  On  the  great  cotton  plantations  of  the  South, 
where  the  planter  lived  in  patriarchal  state,  and  owned 
perhaps  two  or  three  hundred  slaves,  or  more,  the  negroes 
were  generally  well  treated  and  happy  enough,  except  for 
the  overshadowing  fear  of  separation. 

Slavery  on  the  American  Continent  has  vanished  into 
the  limbo  of  almost  forgotten  things  ;  the  planter,  with 
his  opulent,  easy-going  life  and  boundless  hospitality, 
is  extinct,  but  the  negro  remains,  and  increases  and 
multiplies,  after  his  kind,  and,  as  I  gather,  becomes  a 
daily  more  and  more  difficult  problem  to  deal  with. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  February,  1852,  being  then  a 
lad  of  twenty,  but  with  some  rough  experiences  at  sea 
behind  me,  that  I  set  sail  from  Liverpool  in  the  Sutlej,  a 
barque  bound  for  City  Point,  Virginia. 

The  capital  I  had  at  my  disposal  was  £400,  which  my 
father  had  raised  for  me  with  some  difficulty.  Resources 


JACK    GALLIERS  5 

had  to  be  carefully  husbanded,  so  I  took  a  steerage 
passage,  and  shared  the  discomforts  thereof  with  a  party 
of  emigrants  going  out  to  settle  on  lands  in  West  Virginia. 
Most  of  these  had  been  lured  to  try  their  fortunes  in  that 
forest  land  by  the  specious  tongue  of  an  agent  in  London, 
and  had  cause  to  rue  the  day  they  met  him.  I  myself 
was  one  of  his  intended  victims,  but  broke  loose  from  his 
toils  as  soon  as  I  saw  the  country  in  which  he  intended 
to  bury  me. 

Amongst  many  presents  given  me  by  kind  friends  I 
had  a  beautiful  liver-coloured  setter,  bought  at  a  great 
price  for  me  by  four  kind  lady  friends,  who  lived  together 
in  my  father's  parish,  and  were  a  centre  of  peace  and 
goodness  for  all  the  neighbourhood.  I  called  the  dog 
"  Manor  "  after  the  house  from  which  he  came,  and  he 
was  a  true  friend  and  companion  to  me  until,  to  my 
great  sorrow,  I  lost  him  some  years  after  in  the  West. 

Amongst  the  emigrants  I  found  a  typical  navvy  from 
Lancashire,  Jack  Galliers  by  name,  who  for  some  reason 
took  to  me  at  once,  appointing  himself  my  henchman, 
looking  after  my  dog,  and  my  things,  with  much  assiduity. 
He  was  a  very  fine  specimen  of  that  wonderful  breed, 
the  British  navvy,  which  no  other  country,  as  far  as  I 
know,  can  produce.  He  dressed  the  part,  too,  to  perfec 
tion,  in  massive  hob-nailed  high-lows  and  moleskin 
garments. 

His  contempt  for  America,  and  Americans,  and  all 
their  ways  and  doings,  was  unbounded,  nor  did  he  ever 
attempt  to  disguise  his  sentiments.  Indeed,  so  much 
was  this  the  case  that  when,  in  his  most  candid  moods, 
he  would  "  dom  "  America,  and  all  things  therein,  I  often 
feared  he  would  be  mobbed.  But  no,  the  Virginians  only 
seemed  to  marvel  at  him  and  his  ways,  as  though  he  had 
been  some  strange  denizen  of  an  unknown  land.  \Vhen 
he  clenched  his  "  fistises  "  and  bragged  what  he  could  do 
with  them,  or  boasted  that  ';  my  country,"  as  he  always 
called  it,  was  far  better  than  theirs,  they  only  laughed, 


6  WESTWARD    HO! 

and  treated  him  to  whiskey,  of  which  poor  Jack  could 
swallow  any  quantity.  Then  they  would  get  him  to 
sing,  which  he  did  readily  enough  in  a  fine,  mellow 
tenor  ;  or  dance  a  clog  dance  in  those  thundering 
high-lows,  to  their  intense  amusement.  So  Jack,  his 
eccentricities  notwithstanding,  became  a  most  popular 
character  wherever  he  went,  and  I  had  no  more  anxiety 
on  his  behalf. 

The  old  Sutlej  was  loaded  with  pig-iron  and  made 
very  bad  weather  of  it,  so  it  was  six  weeks  before  we 
dropped  anchor  in  the  James  River.  It  was  a  Sunday 
morning,  and  a  lovely  spring  day,  so  I  borrowed  a  boat 
and,  with  a  few  of  my  fellow-passengers,  pulled  ashore. 

We  found  ourselves  on  a  tobacco  plantation,  and  there 
first  saw  negro  slavery  in  the  States.  The  planter,  who 
received  and  welcomed  us  most  hospitably,  owned  about 
three  hundred  negroes,  who  seemed  to  be  very  happy  and 
contented,  as  far  as  we  could  see.  He  also  owned  a  pack 
of  fox-hounds,  of  which  he  was  very  proud. 

Returning  to  the  ship,  we  found  a  tug  waiting  to  take 
us  all  up  the  river  to  Richmond,  about  twenty  miles,  for 
the  Sutlej  could  not  cross  the  bar. 

Arrived  there,  Jack  and  I,  and  some  seven  more,  who 
had  attached  themselves  to  us,  found  accommodation  in 
a  small  hotel.  We  were,  no  doubt,  a  strange  enough 
looking  party,  and  the  natives  were  much  puzzled  to 
make  us  out.  When,  however,  Jack  began  to  show  off, 
and  Manor  to  do  his  tricks,  at  which  he  was  very  clever, 
they  made  up  their  minds  we  were  showmen  on  tour,  and 
I  did  not  undeceive  them. 

I  had  a  letter  of  credit  on  a  merchant  firm  in  Richmond 
on  whom  I  called  at  once.  The  partners  were  most 
friendly  and  tried  to  persuade  me  to  remain  in  the  town, 
instead  of  going  up  country.  But  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  to  see  what  it  was  like  at  any  rate,  and  told  them  I 
would  go,  but  would  leave  my  money  with  them,  except 
what  I  wanted  for  current  expenses. 


THE    CANAL    BOAT  7 

These  gentlemen  kindly  gave  me  full  particulars  of 
the  route,  which  was  first  by  canal  passenger-boat  to 
Buchanan,  the  head  of  navigation,  and  some  sixty  miles 
above  Lynchburg,  the  great  centre  of  the  tobacco  trade, 
and  the  second  largest  slave  market  in  the  States.  From 
Buchanan  we  had  to  make  our  way  across  country,  some 
150  miles  on  foot,  as  best  we  might,  to  Wyandotte 
County,  West  Virginia. 

When  I  told  my  plans  to  Jack  he  "  dommed  "  the 
country  with  much  emphasis,  but  said  he  would  go  any 
where  with  me,  and  five  others  elected  to  join  the  party. 
So  after  a  brief  stay  in  Richmond  we  left  the  quiet  town, 
little  thinking  that,  in  ten  years'  time,  the  eyes  of  the 
world  would  be  anxiously  fixed  upon  it,  whilst  the  Titanic 
struggle  between  North  and  South  waxed  ever  more 
desperate  and  bitter. 

Canal  passenger-boats  are  things  of  the  past,  and  pity 
it  is  they  are  so,  if  one  were  not  in  a  hurry  to  finish  one's 
journey.  Towed  by  two  horses,  we  pursued  our  leisurely 
way  so  slowly  that  passengers  wanting  exercise  could 
get  out  and  walk,  and  easily  keep  up  with  the  conveyance. 

The  scenery  was  beautiful,  and  the  weather  superb 
with  bright  sunshine  and  cool  refreshing  airs. 

Certainly  the  domestic  arrangements  on  board  our 
craft  were  somewhat  primitive,  though  the  attendance 
was  good  and  the  cooking  excellent.  She  was  much 
crowded,  chiefly  with  merchants  returning  up  country 
with  their  summer  goods,  and  many  had  their  wives  and 
daughters  with  them.  These  latter  slept,  and  went 
through  certain  only  partially  concealed  ceremonies, 
behind  a  curtain  stretched  across  the  saloon.  In  this  we 
all  took  our  meals,  and  we  used  it  as  a  sitting-room  till 
9  p.m.,  when  it  at  once  became  the  most  crowded 
dormitory  I  ever  saw.  The  washing  had  to  be  done 
in  one  or  two  pewter  basins,  beside  which  hung  three 
or  four  towels,  brushes  and  combs,  and  tooth-brushes , 
for  public  use. 


8  WESTWARD    HO  ! 

I  think  the  use  of  the  latter  was  "  more  honoured  in 
the  breach  than  in  the  observance,"  but  they  were  used 
by  some. 

Arrived  at  Buchanan,  our  voyage,  on  which  I  had 
made  many  pleasant  friends,  was  ended,  and  I  was  sorry 
it  was. 

Having  got  directions  from  many  friends  "  on  board," 
the  next  morning  after  our  arrival  saw  our  queer-looking 
party  on  the  road,  with  a  weary  tramp  of  about  150 
miles  before  us  ;  Manor,  I  believe,  being  the  only  one 
who  really  enjoyed  it.  Heavy  baggage  was  left  behind, 
each  one  carrying  only  what  was  necessary.  The 
stalwart  Jack  insisted  on  carrying  my  bundle  for  me, 
and  cheerfully  backed  it  the  whole  way. 

We  proposed  to  do  thirty  miles  a  day,  and  actually 
made  our  first  point,  Henderson  French's  plantation,  on 
Brush  Creek,  Mercer  County,  a  distance  of  120  miles, 
in  five  days  ;  not  bad  going  for  foot-sore  wayfarers,  such 
as  we  were.  How  Jack  anathematised  the  country,  its 
roads,  its  people,  and  all  therein,  as  he  trudged  along 
with  his  double  burden,  and  how  the  simple  folk  in  their 
solitary  little  farms  wondered  at  him,  and  all  his 
ways  ! 

French  was  a  well-to-do  middle-aged  bachelor,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  State  Senate,  and  the  owner  of  the  lands 
we  had  been  inveigled  out  to  settle.  He  was,  moreover, 
a  very  shrewd  Yankee.  Approaching  his  plantation, 
with  weary  feet,  we  trudged,  for  a  mile  or  so,  through  a 
fertile  valley  which  had  been  heavily  timbered,  but  where 
now  the  trees  had  been  deadened  by  "  belting,"  and 
stood  gaunt  and  sombre  skeletons.  The  undergrowth 
had  been  grubbed  up,  and  the  grass  was  springing  in  its 
place.  Here  and  there  were  bunches  of  cattle,  and  a  few 
hundred  sheep  scattered  about. 

Wondering  what  our  future  would  be,  and  whether  it 
was  destined  to  be  fixed  in  this  spot,  and  wrhat  reception 
we  should  meet  with  from  the  man  we  had  travelled  so 


DOCTOR    COOK  9 

far  to  see,  we  presently  came  out  on  the  clearing,  in  which 
stood  his  homestead,  a  long,  one-storey  frame  house. 

French  was  very  friendly,  and  called  up  his  manager 
and  his  wife  to  help  look  after  us,  an  English  couple  of 
the  servant  class,  who  had  come  out  about  a  year  before. 
It  was  pleasant  to  see  cheerful  English  faces  in  that  dis 
tant  land,  and  to  receive  the  kindly  greeting  of  these  good 
folks,  who  were  as  pleased  to  behold  their  fellow-country 
men  again  as  we  were  to  find  them  so  unexpectedly. 

Besides  this  excellent  couple,  French  had  eight  negro 
slaves,  and  was  a  prosperous  man  for  those  parts. 

After  a  day's  rest,  a  Doctor  Cook  appeared  on  the 
scene  to  conduct  us  to  French's  lands,  on  which  we  were 
supposed  to  settle.  This  man  was  an  English  medical 
man,  who  had  been  trapped  into  coming  out  to  Western 
Virginia,  as  we  had  been,  by  the  Yankee's  London  agent ; 
having  been  an  innocent  pigeon  when  first  caught,  he  had 
now  developed  into  a  rook,  and  acted  as  French's  agent 
and  decoy  for  simple  Britishers. 

The  lands  lay  in  three  different  counties,  the  nearest 
point  being  sixty  miles  distant,  so  to  see  them  a  good 
long  tramp  was  necessary.  Very  early  in  the  morning 
we  started  off  on  our  journey,  all  but  Cook  being  on  foot. 
That  gentleman  knew  too  much  about  the  country  to 
walk,  so  took  his  horse  and  saddle-bags. 

Our  route  lay  over  ridges  and  hills  of  moderate  height 
intersected  by  valleys,  through  which  ran  clear,  bright 
streams,  like  English  trout  brooks,  and  here  and  there 
from  out  the  hillsides  burst  springs  of  cool  water.  By 
bridle-tracks  and  forest  paths  we  wandered  on  under 
the  splendid  timber.  Glorious  oaks  were  plentiful,  of 
three  different  kinds,  and  the  rest  of  the  forest  growth 
was  mainly  chestnut,  walnut,  maple,  sugar  maple,  and 
"  Wachoo." 

The  trunks  of  these  often  shot  up  seventy  feet,  straight 
as  an  arrow,  before  throwing  out  a  branch  :  a  sight  to 
gladden  the  heart  of  a  timber  merchant,  if  only  he  could 


10  WESTWARD    HO  ! 

get  his  wood  to  market ;  but  what  possibility  was  there 
of  making  a  living,  to  say  nothing  of  a  fortune,  by  clearing 
such  land  for  farming  purposes  ?  Young  as  I  was,  the 
impossibility  of  the  thing  became  more  apparent  to  me 
the  farther  we  went  into  the  great  depths,  though  our 
friend  the  Doctor  wasted  much  eloquence  in  pointing 
out  the  richness  of  the  land  and  the  great  advantages 
of  the  country  for  settlers. 

Game  abounded  in  these  solitudes,  and  deer  would 
jump  up  close  to  the  path,  whilst  turkeys  and  pheasants 
would  calmly  survey  us  till  Manor  made  a  dash  and 
scattered  them  ;  but  unfortunately  no  one  carried  a 
gun,  for  we  had  enough  to  carry  without  that. 

Settlements  were  indeed  few  and  far  between,  and 
those  only  log  cabins  of  the  poorest.  After  a  twenty-five 
mile  walk  we  reached  one  of  these,  the  owner  of  which 
took  us  in  and  fed  us  on  bacon  and  maize  corn  bread,  the 
staple  food  of  the  country.  The  Doctor  took  the  only 
bed,  and  we,  his  victims,  shook  down  as  best  we  might, 
on  the  floor. 

The  next  morning,  after  a  delightful  wash  at  the 
spring,  off  we  set  again,  for  another  twenty  or  thirty 
miles'  tramp,  and,  passing  through  the  same  lovely 
scenery  and  the  same  heavily  timbered  country,  at 
nightfall  reached  the  cabin  of  two  English  brothers, 
Walker  by  name.  These  unfortunates  had  been  per 
suaded  by  our  friend  the  Doctor  into  buying  some  of 
French's  land.  The  cabin,  and  all  its  surroundings, 
seemed  hopeless  and  wretched,  and  its  owners  absolutely 
unfitted  for  roughing  it  in  such  a  country. 

Our  arrival  only  added  to  their  misery,  poor  fellows, 
for  I  brought  with  me  two  of  their  younger  brothers,  lads 
of  sixteen  and  fourteen  respectively.  They  had  been 
sent  out  by  their  step-father,  who  probably  didn't  care 
what  became  of  them  so  he  was  rid  of  them,  and  had 
joined  our  party  for  the  journey  from  Buchanan. 

I  felt  sad  and  sorry  for    their   plight,  but  could   do 


HAJOR    WALKER  11 

nothing  to  help  them.  We  parted  next  morning,  when 
we  resumed  our  weary  way,  and  I  know  not  what  befell 
them  thereafter.  But  I  know  that,  within  two  years 
from  that  time,  two  English  settlers  in  the  same 
district,  one  a  retired  sea-captain,  found  a  way  out 
of  their  miseries  by  their  own  hands. 

More  and  more  it  was  growing  plain  to  me  that  it 
would  never  do  to  buy  any  of  French's  lands  ;  for  I 
could  not  live  on  scenery,  however  beautiful,  and  to 
clear  anything  like  a  farm,  of  that  terribly  heavy  timber, 
even  with  the  valiant  Jack's  assistance,  was  beyond 
my  strength. 

At  our  next  halt  my  growing  resolve  to  cut  loose  from 
the  toils  of  the  wily  Cook  was  confirmed  by  our  host, 
who  was  a  "  Major  "  Amos  Walker,  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  Surveyor  of  Wyoming  County.  The  old  gentleman 
(he  was  nearly  eighty)  was  a  very  fine  specimen  of  the 
American  of  almost  pre-revolutionary  days.  His  father 
had  been  killed  in  the  revolutionary  war,  fighting  under 
General  Washington,  and  he  himself  had  fought  under 
Andrew  Jackson  ("  Old  Hickory  ")  in  the  War  with  Eng 
land  of  1812.  To  me,  he  was  most  kind  and  courteous, 
and  a  real  friend,  as  long  as  I  remained  in  Virginia, 
but  "  Britishers,"  collectively,  he  abused  roundly,  and 
hated  with  a  pious  hatred. 

I  took  to  the  Major  at  once,  for  there  was  that  in  his 
personality  which  invited  confidence.  I  therefore  told 
him  frankly  how  I  was  situated,  what  available  funds  I 
had,  etc.,  etc.,  and  asked  his  advice.  He  at  once  most 
strongly  recommended  me  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
French's  settlement,  but  to  go  on  to  Princeton,  Mercer 
County,  where  the  country  was  less  mountainous  and 
more  settled,  and  where  land,  well  situated,  could  be 
bought  for  less  money  than  Cook  was  asking  his  dupes. 

Accordingly,  when  the  Doctor  mustered  his  little  party 
the  following  morning  I  told  him  that  neither  the  land 
nor  the  country  suited  me,  and  bade  him  good-bye. 


12  WESTWARD    HO  f 

Jack  decided  to  follow  my  fortunes.  Cook  was  very 
irate,  and  blustered  a  bit,  but  finding  that  no  good, 
finally  rode  off.  I  watched  the  little  party,  which  now 
mustered  about  twelve,  till  it  disappeared  under  the 
grand  timber  on  the  mountain  side,  and  never  saw  any 
of  its  members  again. 

I  stayed  on  with  the  Major,  at  his  pressing  invitation, 
for  a  week,  and  as  his  mode  of  life  was  typical  of  the  best 
class  of  backwoodsmen  of  those  far-off  days,  I  propose  to 
describe  it  more  particularly  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER    II 
A  BACKWOODSMAN'S  HOME 

ON  the  last  day's  journey  with  the  Doctor,  as  the  sun  was 
sinking  in  the  west,  our  party,  weary,  footsore  and  de 
jected,  followed  a  narrow  bridle-path  descending  into  a 
dip  between  the  timber-clad  ridges.  Wider  it  grew,  and 
more  distinct,  and  then  we  came  suddenly  out  of  the 
forest  shade  into  a  clearing,  in  which  stood  a  good-sized 
log  house.  The  owner  thereof  came  out,  and  welcomed 
us  all  most  kindly.  It  was  a  blessed  relief  to  know  our 
day's  tramp  was  over  and  that  we  had  found  rest  and 
hospitality. 

The  Major's  family  consisted  of  his  wife,  an  elderly 
lady,  two  unmarried  daughters,  and  a  son  of  about 
nineteen  years  old.  These,  with  a  little  occasional  help, 
had  cleared  the  land,  raised  the  corn,  tended  the  stock, 
carded,  spun,  wove  and  made  up  their  clothing,  and 
indeed  were  self-contained  and  self-supporting.  Theirs 
was  perhaps  not  a  very  refined  life,  and  certainly  it 
was  not  luxurious,  but  it  was  one  of  abundance  and 
contentment. 

The  cabin,  built  of  logs,  and  chestnut-shingle  roofed, 
was  two-storied,  and  contained  only  two  rooms,  each 
about  twenty  feet  by  eighteen  feet,  with  floors  of  split 
timber.  In  the  sitting-room  was  a  huge  fireplace  in 
which  blazed  a  cheerful  fire  of  hickory  logs.  Close 
behind  the  house  stood  the  kitchen,  and  a  little  farther 
away  a  milk  house,  spring  house,  a  small  stable  and 
cow-house,  all  of  course  of  logs. 

13 


14  A    BACKWOODSMAN'S    HOME 

Round  the  homestead  the  great  forest  trees,  such  as 
oaks,  chestnuts,  hickories  and  gums,  had  been  left 
standing  in  all  their  beauty,  and  were  then  clad  in  the 
fresh  greenery  of  spring,  but  in  the  little  clearing  of 
about  fifty  acres  the  timber  had  all  been  "  deadened," 
and  still  stood  gaunt  and  weird,  mere  ghosts  of  trees. 

The  stock  the  Major  owned  got  a  good  living  in  the 
woods  nearly  all  the  year  round. 

The  old  lady,  as  kindly  and  hospitable  as  her  husband, 
was  very  proud  of  her  poultry,  of  which  she  had  a  good 
show,  and  of  her  "  bee  gums,"  or  hives.  These,  with  her 
weaving,  fully  occupied  her  time. 

Such  was  the  Major's  establishment,  and  as  it  was 
typical  of  the  best  class  of  forest  farms  in  those  days,  I 
have  fully  described  it. 

I  often  wonder  how  many  of  such  are  to  be  found  now, 
or  whether  civilisation  and  progress  have  stamped  them 
out  ?  It  was  a  simple,  manly,  independent  life,  and  pity 
it  is  if  it  has  quite  vanished. 

The  domestic  arrangements,  especially  those  for  sleep 
ing,  were  decidedly  primitive,  but  they  were  a  matter  of 
course  throughout  that  country,  and  it  never  entered 
into  any  one's  head  to  think  evil  of  them,  though  male 
guests  and  the  unmarried  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
house  slept  in  the  same  room  upstairs,  whilst  the  old  folk 
usually,  as  in  this  case,  slept  below.  I  can  aver  that  in 
all  my  experience  of  Western  Virginia  I  never  heard  a 
whisper  of  impropriety  arising  from  this  condition  of 
things. 

Anything  of  the  sort  would  have  received  sharp  and 
sudden  retribution  at  the  hands  of  father  or  brother, 
who  were  always  armed  with  rifle  and  six-shooter,  and 
would  not  have  scrupled  to  use  them. 

When  bed-time  came,  the  boys  of  the  house  and  the 
guests  lay  down,  half  dressed,  in  their  bunks,  on  beauti 
fully  clean  linen,  as  a  rule.  Then  the  girls  slipped  in,  and 
all  was  silence. 


JACK    ON    PROPRIETY  15 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn  the  girls  slipped  out,  as 
quietly  as  they  had  come.  Then  after  an  interval  the 
men  turned  out,  and  on  the  gallery  stood  cedar  buckets 
of  cool,  clear  water  in  which  one's  ablutions  were  per 
formed.  Some  one,  usually  one  of  the  girls,  "  poured 
water," — i.e.  into  one's  hands, — and  so  the  washing  was 
done,  not  always  with  soap,  which  in  those  parts  was  a 
scarce  commodity. 

As  soon  as  the  Doctor  and  his  victims  had  gone,  my 
friend  the  Major  warmly  congratulated  me  on  cutting 
loose  from  him  and  his  land  scheme,  and  I  felt  happier 
than  for  many  a  day.  I  had  £400  to  my  credit,  and  with 
youth,  health,  strength,  and  boundless  possibilities  before 
me,  the  world  looked  very  bright.  Looking  back  through 
all  these  long  years  of  life,  with  their  chequered  joys  and 
sorrows,  that  day  seems  one  of  the  brightest. 

Major  Walker  pressed  me  in  the  kindest  way  to  stay 
with  him  as  long  as  I  liked,  and  I,  partly  because  I  had 
taken  a  great  liking  for  the  fine  old  fellow,  and  partly 
because  I  knew  he  would  be  glad  of  help  to  get  his  corn 
in,  accepted  for  Jack  and  myself  for  one  week  certain. 

After  the  manner  of  his  kind,  for  no  creature  on  this 
earth  can,  or  will,  work  like  a  British  navvy,  Jack  set  to 
at  his  task,  and  fairly  astonished  the  natives  with  his 
energy.  Buttermilk  and  coffee  were  the  only  drinks 
available  in  place  of  his  well-beloved  beer.  He 
"  dommed  "  vigorously,  but  he  drank  them  and  worked 
untiringly. 

In  his  hob-nailed  high-lows,  the  pride  of  his  life,  he 
looked  down  from  a  serene  height  on  his  host's  family, 
who,  for  the  most  part,  went  bare-footed,  and  were  not 
ashamed. 

Jack's  sense  of  propriety  was  terribly  shocked  by  this 
state  of  things,  to  which  he  could  not  reconcile  himself, 
and  ever  and  anon  would  burst  out  with  :  "  What'd  they 
say  in  my  country  if  farmers  and  landowners  trampled 
round  bare-footed  ?  Dom  such  a  country,  says  I." 


16  A    BACKWOODSMAN'S    HOME 

For  myself  I  worked  but  little,  as  Jack  worked  for  both 
of  us.  Most  of  the  time  I  spent  in  the  woods  with  the 
Major's  old  Kentucky  rifle,  and  Manor  for  a  companion, 
and  many  a  grey  squirrel  and  coon  we  bagged  ;  or,  when 
horses  could  be  spared,  rode  with  Walker  to  some  settle 
ment  ten  or  twelve  miles  away,  learning  all  I  could  from 
my  old  friend  about  the  country  and  its  ways.  Always 
our  path  lay  over  lofty  ridges  and  down  deep  ravines  ; 
and  everywhere  the  same  magnificent  timber  grew  and 
flourished.  A  most  beautiful  country  to  look  upon,  but 
hopeless  from  a  settler's  point  of  view. 

One  night  Council  Walker,  the  son,  took  me  to  a 
"  deer  lick,"  in  a  creek  about  two  miles  off.  A  "  deer 
lick  "  is  a  saline  spring,  the  flavour  of  which  is  irresistible 
to  all  the  Cervidse.  I  was  to  do  the  shooting,  and  he 
would  carry  the  torch  of  fat  pine  wood. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  set  out.  There  was  no  moon,  and 
though  the  stars  shone  brightly  it  was  pitch  dark  in  the 
forest,  showing  up  the  gleam  of  the  fireflies  (called  by 
Council  "  lightning-bugs  ")  most  brilliantly. 

On  the  bank  of  the  creek,  opposite  the  lick,  was  a 
"  blind  "  for  concealment,  and  behind  it  a  hole  in  the 
ground  to  keep  a  smouldering  fire  in.  When  a  deer  comes 
to  suck,  the  torch  is  lighted,  and  shown  for  a  moment  ; 
the  deer  raises  its  head  and  gives  the  watcher  a  shot. 

Behind  the  blind  we  lay  for  what  seemed  to  me  hours. 
Only  the  distant  bay  of  a  wolf,  the  smothered  growl  of  a 
panther,  or  the  hooting  of  an  owl  broke  the  solemn 
silence  of  the  forest. 

What  if  "  buck  ague  "  should  attack  me  ?  This  was 
my  first  chance  at  a  deer,  and  the  very  fear  of  the  attack 
almost  brought  it  on.  Presently  Council  touched  me  on 
the  shoulder,  and  whispered  under  his  breath,  "  Look 
out !  " 

Down  the  steep  side  of  the  creek  I  could  hear  a  deer 
coming — almost  my  heart  stopped  beating.  On  he  came, 
halted  and  snorted.  Did  he  wind  us,  and  would  he  go 


MY    FIRST    BUCK  17 

thundering  off  into  the  woods  with  his  hinds  ?  No ;  he 
stepped  into  the  creek,  and  I  could  hear  him  suck. 

What  a  moment  of  excitement !  Council  laid  his 
torch  in  the  embers  and  quietly  blew  it  into  a  flame. 
My  rifle  was  in  the  rest,  but  my  hand  shook  so,  I  felt 
sure  I  should  miss  my  shot. 

The  bright  light  shone  for  an  instant  above  the  blind  ; 
the  buck  raised  his  head  to  stare  at  it.  I  set  my  teeth, 
pulled  myself  together,  and  let  drive.  There  was  a 
plunging  and  a  splashing  in  the  pool,  and  all  was  still. 

We  rushed  out,  and  there  lay  a  fine  buck  of  five  points, 
stone  dead,  with  a  bullet  just  behind  the  shoulder.  Many 
I  have  shot  since  at  licks,  or  by  stalking,  or  driven  by 
hounds,  but  this,  my  first  triumph,  I  can  never  forget. 

In  the  evenings  we  would  all  sit  round  the  great  fire 
place,  our  only  light  the  smouldering  hickory  logs  on  the 
hearth.  The  Major  did  most  of  the  talking.  He  had  an 
inexhaustible  store  of  anecdotes,  and  recollections  of  the 
stirring  times  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  and  talked 
remarkably  well.  Andrew  Jackson  he  regarded  as  the 
greatest  general,  hero,  and  statesman  of  the  age.  He 
had  much  to  say  about  the  "  effete  "  British  aristocracy. 
It  was  always  "  Britain  "  and  "  British,"  never 
England  and  English,  with  him. 

Though  professing  great  contempt  for  the  worn-out 
old  country,  there  was  evidently  behind  it  all  a  firm  belief 
in  the  greatness  of  the  race  from  which  he  sprang,  and  in 
its  lofty  destiny.  But  he  always  wound  up  by  saying 
"  the  Eagle  would  whip  creation." 

So  passed  a  most  pleasant  week  away,  and  then  I 
parted  with  my  kind  host,  with  much  shrewd  advice 
from  him,  and  a  very  warm  invitation  to  stay  with  him 
again  should  I  finally  elect  to  settle  in  Western  Virginia. 
Then  Jack  shouldered  my  bundle  as  usual,  and  off  we 
set,  in  very  good  fettle,  as  he  called  it,  after  our  week's 
rest  from  walking. 

Princeton,  our  destination,  was  about  forty  miles 

2 


18  A    BACKWOODSMAN'S    HOME 

away ;  but  time  being  no  object  we  took  it  leisurely,  and 
halted  long  before  sundown  at  a  farm  owned  by  Emmanuel 
Jenks,  a  great  character,  who  kept  whiskey  and  sold  it. 
Jack,  you  may  be  sure  bought  it,  but  I  don't  remember 
that  he  overstepped  the  bounds  of  what  was  moderation 
for  him. 

Jenks  had  taken  a  contract  to  make  a  "  county  road  " 
about  fifty  miles  long,  and  much  coveted  Jack  to  help  at 
the  work.  He  offered  him  big  wages,  but  Jack  elected  to 
stick  to  me,  though  road-making  was  an  occupation  dear 
to  his  heart. 

By  Jenks 's  advice  we  made  up  our  minds  to  put  up 
the  next  day  at  the  house  of  a  friend  of  his,  Absalom 
Lusk  by  name,  about  ten  miles  out  of  Princeton.  The 
road,  or  rather  track,  led  us  through  the  same  heavily 
timbered  country,  over  lofty  ridges  and  into  deep  valleys. 
It  was  even  more  stony  and  rougher  than  usual ;  the 
day  was  hot,  and  Jack  "  dommed  "  the  road  with  an 
added  energy  that  surprised  even  me.  However,  at 
about  six  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Lusk's  cabin  and  clearing, 
and  received  a  hearty  welcome. 

As  usual  he  and  his  wife,  his  sons  and  daughters,  did 
the  work  of  the  farm,  including  the  raising  of  a  small 
crop  of  tobacco. 

Absalom  was  a  strong  Methodist,  so  at  nine  o'clock  the 
women-folk  stopped  their  wheels,  all  talking  ceased,  and 
the  father  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  ;  a  hymn  was 
sung,  a  short  extemporary  prayer  said,  and  the  service 
was  over.  Jack  probably,  in  all  his  experience,  had  never 
been  present  at  the  like,  and  seemed  dumfounded  at 
the  proceedings. 

Bed-time  had  come,  and  we  all  turned  in  ;  Jack  being, 
for  the  first  time,  admitted  to  the  upper  room  where,  as 
usual,  the  boys  and  girls  slept.  Circumstances  make  us 
acquainted,  it  is  said,  with  strange  bedfellows,  and  that 
night  Jack  and  I  slept  together  ! 

I  may  say  that  he  did  not  regard  these  customary 


PRINCETON  19 

arrangements  with  any  favour,  but  loudly  asked  me  next 
morning  what  they  would  say  to  it  in  "  my  country." 
Indeed  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  keep  him  from  making 
unpleasant  remarks  about  it  to  our  kind  host. 

After  breakfast  we  set  off  again  on  our  travels,  the 
good  folks  utterly  refusing  to  accept  any  payment  for 
our  entertainment,  and  saying  they  would  be  glad  to 
see  us  again  if  we  passed  that  way. 

Presently  we  began  to  hear  the  tinkle  of  many  cow 
and  sheep  bells  in  the  woods,  and  knew  we  must  be  nearing 
the  settlement  or  town.  Coming  suddenly  upon  it,  after 
being  buried  so  many  days  in  the  interminable  woods,  it 
seemed  quite  a  place,  though  in  reality  the  houses  were 
but  few,  and  they  all  frame  or  log  built ;  not  a  brick  in 
any  of  them,  except  in  the  chimneys,  now  and  then. 

We  put  up  at  a  "  tavern,"  kept  by  one  Joe  Alvis,  which 
was  a  fairly  large  frame  house,  painted  white,  two  stories 
high,  and  with  a  wide  gallery,  or  verandah,  round  it. 
The  host  and  his  wife  were  pleasant  people,  and  the 
terms,  $3  a  week,  all  found,  reasonable  enough  ;  so  I 
soon  made  up  my  mind  to  stay  with  them  while  looking 
about  me. 

It  was  very  quickly  "  orated  round  "  that  two  strangers, 
belonging  to  an  emigrant  party,  were  staying  at  Alvis's, 
and  that  one  of  them  was  looking  out  for  land.  So  that 
same  evening,  whilst  Jack  and  I  smoked  the  pipe  of 
peace  on  the  gallery,  after  supper,  a  party  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes  collected  to  see  what  kind  of  people  had  dropped 
down  upon  them. 

No  wonder  they  were  curious,  for  in  those  days  for 
eigners  or  emigrants  were  rarce  aves  indeed,  and  "  store 
clothes  "  seldom  seen  west  of  the  "  Blue  Ridge." 

Amongst  our  visitors  was  Ben  McNutt,  the  Sheriff  of 
the  County  ;  Judge  Hale,  formerly  Probate  Judge,  but 
now  a  merchant  and  practising  lawyer,  who  had  the 
best  house  in  the  town,  and  a  merchant  who  had  come 
up  with  us  on  the  canal  boat  to  Buchanan,  and  was  most 


20  A    BACKWOODSMAN'S    HOME 

friendly  and  cordial  in  his  greeting.  Whilst  I  chatted 
with  these,  the  others  had  been  taking  stock  of  Jack, 
examining  with  curiosity  and  wonder  his  tremendous 
navvy  boots,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been  seen  in 
those  parts.  The  kindly,  open-handed  folks  quickly 
made  friends  with  him,  and  then  took  him  round  to  the 
little  bar,  where  they  plied  him  with  whiskey. 

Unlimited  beer,  of  the  strongest,  was  Jack's  native 
drink,  but  he  took  kindly  to  the  new  one,  and  soon  grew 
very  boastful  as  to  his  powers,  especially  with  his 
"  fistises."  All  was  taken  in  good  part,  however,  and  I 
believe  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  fine  specimen  of  that 
strange  creature,  the  "  Britisher." 

Some  one  expressed  wonder  that  he  could  walk  at  all 
in  such  boots.  "  Walk  !  Dommee,"  said  Jack,  :'  I'll 
soon  show  you,"  and,  a  fiddle  being  brought  by  a  nigger, 
danced  a  thundering  breakdown,  to  the  huge  delight 
of  the  spectators.  Then  he  sang  song  after  song  to 
them,  only  stopping  when  no  longer  able  to  articulate, 
and  finally  retired  to  bed  the  most  popular  man  in  all 
Princeton  ! 

That  night  I  felt  happier  than  since  I  had  been  in 
Virginia,  for  I  had  found  friendly  and  kindly  people  with 
whom  I  could  get  along,  as  I  thought,  and  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  settle  in  the  neighbourhood,  if  I  could  find  land 
to  suit  me. 

I  was  told  by  my  kind  friends  in  the  place,  who  all 
invited  me,  one  after  the  other,  to  their  houses,  that  the 
"  Court  "  was  held  in  Princeton  Court  House,  once  a 
month.  This  answered  to  our  Petty  and  Quarter  Sessions, 
rolled  into  one,  and  all  the  neighbourhood  flocked  into 
the  town  on  the  great  day,  either  on  business  or  pleasure 
bent.  As  next  "  Court  day  "  was  only  ten  days  off,  I 
determined  to  hold  my  hand  till  then,  and  make  my 
headquarters  at  Alois's  house. 

Finding  I  had  no  use  for  Jack  till  I  got  my  land,  I 
paid  his  bill,  gave  him  a  few  dollars,  and  sent  him  back 


MY    FIRST    HORSE  21 

to  Jenks,  who  wanted  him  so  badly  for  road  making. 
He  departed,  vowing  he  would  come  back  directly  I 
wanted  him,  and  as  he  disappeared  I  confess  I  felt  quite 
lonely. 

Now  the  desire  came  upon  me  to  buy  a  horse.  I  had 
never  owned  one  of  my  very  own  since  the  days  of  my 
early  boyhood,  when  I  had  had  a  pony  ;  and  to  become 
the  possessor  of  a  horse  is,  I  believe,  the  height  of  every 
youngster's  ambition.  Moreover,  a  horse  was  a  necessity 
to  enable  me  to  get  about  and  inspect  the  country. 
Accordingly,  hearing  of  a  colt  owned  by  a  man  named 
Carr,  which  Alvis  said  was  the  best  in  the  country,  and 
could  be  bought  for  $60,  I  determined  to  purchase  it. 

I  bought  a  saddle  and  bridle  in  Vance's  store,  and 
set  out,  carrying  these,  for  Carr's  place  eight  miles  from 
Princeton,  where  I  arrived  after  a  terribly  hot  walk, 
which  the  thought  that  I  should  ride  back  helped  me  to 
endure. 

I  must  confess  that  I  was  green  enough  in  those  days, 
and  being  eager  to  buy,  was  just  such  a  victim  as  any 
dealer  would  consider  his  natural  prey.  Well,  next 
morning  I  bought  the  colt,  and  paid  my  $60,  saddled 
him,  and  rode  off  proud  and  happy  in  my  new  pos 
session.  I  soon  found  he  was  scarcely  "  bridle-wise," 
and  I  fancy  had  never  been  ridden  before  ;  moreover 
he  was  a  terrible  slug  ;  but  he  was  a  horse,  and  he  was 
mine  !  Solemnly  I  rode  into  Princeton,  and  put  my 
mount  up  at  Joe  Alvis's,  who  praised  my  judgment  and 
said  I  had  got  a  bargain. 

Before  Court  day  came  I  rode  my  steed  many  a  mile, 
and  got  to  know  most  of  the  settlers  within  a  radius 
of  twenty  miles  of  the  town.  What  a  hospitable,  kindly 
folk  they  were,  making  you  welcome  wherever  you  chose 
to  go  ! 

One  good  friend  I  remember  making  on  one  of  these 
trips — "  Squire  "  White,  who  lived  about  ten  miles  out. 
Though  his  surroundings  and  mode  of  life  were  most 


22  A    BACKWOODSMAN'S    HOME 

primitive,    much   like   Major   Walker's,   he  had   been   a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  the  Chairman 
of  the  County  Sessions  ;    a  position  analogous  to  that  of 
our  Chairman  of  Quarter  Sessions,  only  with  more  power. 
Life    and  social  customs    in  that  Western  land  were 
totally  different  from  those  of  the  old  country,  and  im 
pressed  me  very  much  in  their  favour.     Every  white 
man,   however   poor,   if   he   were   honest   and   decently 
behaved,  was  socially  the  equal  of  those  in  power  and 
authority  ;    and  to  gain  power  and  position  it  was  not 
necessary  to  be  wealthy,  only  to  be  popular  ;  in  fact,  to 
be  a  man.    My  friend  the  "  Squire,"  for  instance,  worked 
his  farm  with  the  assistance  of  his  family,  and  lived  as 
roughly  and  plainly  as  his  neighbours,  yet  was  a  man  of 
influence  in  his  County.     Raw  lad  that  I  was,  I  was  at 
once  on   terms  of  equality  with  him,   and  felt  myself 
raised  to  a  higher  platform  by  the  friendship  of  such  a 
man. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE    FARM    ON    THE    BLUESTONE 

'\CouRT  DAY  "  came,  and  by  10  a.m.  the  little  town  was 
crowded  by  the  farmers  from  far  and  near.  Singly,  and 
in  parties  of  three  or  four,  or  more,  they  rode  up  the 
straggling  main  street,  and  I  watched  them  with  great 
interest,  as  probable  neighbours  and  friends  in  the  near 
future. 

For  the  most  part  they  were  fine,  stalwart  men,  heavy 
of  bone  and  light  of  flesh,  with  the  keen,  sharply  cut 
features  characteristic  of  the  native-born  American. 
Some  were  mounted  on  good  horses,  and  others  on  wiry 
Indian  ponies,  but  all,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor, 
were  clad  in  homespun  ;  I  don't  think  there  was  a  suit 
of  "  store  clothes  "  in  all  the  crowd.  Each  man  carried 
his  rifle,  and  could  handle  it  well  too. 

Presently  the  Court  House,  the  taverns,  of  which  there 
were  two,  and  the  little  stores  became  crowded  by  the 
visitors,  and  things  began  to  "  hum  "  in  quiet  little 
Princeton. 

Business  in  the  Court  and  in  the  stores  finished,  the 
taverns  filled,  and  friends  treated  each  other,  all  meeting 
on  terms  of  perfect  equality.  Judges,  magistrates, 
lawyers,  farmers,  tavern-keepers,  all  met  as  social  equals, 
and  there  was  no  such  thing  as  stand-offishness  amongst 
them.  Coming  freshly  from  the  old  country,  where 
social  grades  were  then  so  much  more  clearly  defined 
than  they  are  even  nowadays,  this  state  of  things  struck 
me  very  forcibly.  Evidently  it  was  a  country  where  a 

23 


24          THE    FARM    ON    THE    BLUESTONE 

man  was  valued  for  what  he  was,  not  for  what  he  had,  and 
the  more  I  saw  of  it,  the  better  I  liked  it. 

Before  the  Court  adjourned,  I  made  my  "  declaration 
of  intention  "  to  become  an  American  citizen,  and  in  due 
course,  after  the  necessary  interval,  became  naturalised. 

As  it  was  known  that  I  was  a  possible  buyer  of  land, 
every  one  who  had  it  to  sell  sought  my  acquaintance, 
pressed  me  to  drink,  and  to  come  out  and  stay  with  them 
at  their  farms.  Indeed,  my  society  was  in  such  request, 
and  my  health  so  frequently  pledged  that,  if  I  had  re 
ciprocated  in  all  cases,  my  own  must  have  been  seriously 
impaired  ;  as  it  was,  I  managed  to  keep  sober,  though 
with  some  difficulty. 

Joe  Alvis  had  mentioned  a  farm  on  the  Bluestone 
River,  about  twelve  miles  from  Princeton,  belonging  to 
one  Mr.  George  Baily,  as  likely  to  suit  me.  The  old 
gentleman,  he  said,  was  heavily  in  debt,  and  anxious  to 
sell  out  and  move  West.  Baily  and  his  two  sons,  Thomp 
son  and  Council,  were  presently  introduced  by  Alvis, 
and  of  course  a  move  was  made  to  the  bar,  though  the 
old  fellow  was  already,  what  shall  we  say—  "  forrard  "  ? 
Next  came  a  most  pressing  invitation  to  come  out  to 
the  farm  with  them  that  night,  and  stay  as  long  as  I 
cared  to,  which  I  accepted. 

George  Baily  was  a  remarkably  fine  specimen  of  the 
Western  Virginian  farmer,  who  carried  his  years  (he  was 
about  sixty),  and  his  whiskey,  wonderfully  well.  Over 
six  feet  in  height,  spare  and  straight  as  a  shingle,  with 
finely  cut  features,  dressed  in  homespun  "  blue  jeans  " 
though  he  was,  he  looked  a  gentleman  of  Nature's  own 
fashioning. 

It  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  before  the  old 
gentleman  could  be  persuaded  to  mount,  and  then,  John 
Gilpin  like,  he  stuffed  two  bottles  of  whiskey  into  his 
saddle-bags,  one  on  each  side  ;  he  must  have  had  at  least 
a  quart  inside  him,  but  seemed  none  the  worse  for  it.  It 
was  a  lovely  moonlit  night,  and  for  six  miles  we  had  a 


VIRGINIAN    CURIOSITY  25 

fairly  good  road,  which  after   that  dwindled  down  to  a 
dimly  shadowed  track  between  the  lofty  forest  trees. 

We  started  from  Princeton  quite  a  large  party,  though 
we  shed  the  most  of  them  in  a  few  miles,  by  narrow  tracks 
leading  off  to  their  respective  farms.  Many  a  cheery 
good-night  and  good-bye  were  given  me  by  these  kindly 
folks,  and  many  a  pressing  invitation  to  come  and  stay 
with  them,  should  I  settle  in  those  parts.  I  never  met 
anywhere  a  more  kindly  race  than  these  Virginians,  and 
youngster  that  I  was,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  their 
friendliness  was  very  cheering. 

One  thing  struck  me  as  very  curious,  in  that  day's 
experience.  Many  of  my  newly  found  friends  asked  if 
I  were  really  a  Britisher,  because  I  spoke  such  good 
English  !  What  could  they  have  expected  me*to  speak  ? 
I  never  found  that  out.  One  fine  old  fellow,  after  looking 
me  well  over,  remarked,  "  I  like  your  eye,  it  is  blue  and 
clear."  Another  said,  "  I  see  you  wrap  your  fingers  in 
gold,"  alluding  to  three  rings  given  me  before  I  left  home, 
and  which  I  then  wore. 

When  we  arrived  at  Baily's  log  house  it  was  9.30  p.m., 
and  the  old  lady  was  somewhat  crusty  at  first,  not  being 
used  to  such  late  hours.  However,  she  soon  came  round 
and  bade  me  a  kindly  welcome,  the  boys  took  the  horses, 
and  I  entered  what  was  to  be  my  first  very  own  home. 

Let  me  describe  it.  On  the  ground  floor,  a  single 
room,  with  unglazed  windows,  about  eighteen  feet  square, 
at  one  end  a  wide  fireplace,  and,  stuck  in  the  logs  by  the 
side  of  it,  a  torch  of  pine  splinters  for  light  ;  at  the  other 
end  a  staircase  leading  to  the  room  above.  On  one  side 
a  comfortable-looking  bed  for  the  old  folks,  and  on  the 
other  a  table,  and  raw-hide-bottomed  chairs.  Upstairs 
there  were  five  beds,  but  no  other  furniture. 

The  two  girls  soon  had  supper  ready,  coffee,  corn- 
bread,  bacon  and  eggs,  very  welcome  to  hungry  mortals. 
Baily  produced  one  of  his  bottles  and  insisted  that  all 
should  partake,  but  the  ladies  declined.  Supper  over, 


26          THE    FARM    ON    THE    BLUESTONE 

Mrs.  Baily  said,  "  I  reckon  you  would  like  to  lie  down," 
to  which  I  readily  agreed  ;  so  Council  showed  me  up 
stairs,  with  a  pine  splinter,  by  the  light  of  which  I  saw 
girls'  raiment  hanging  on  the  walls. 

That  night  I  slept  the  sleep  of  the  weary,  and  heard 
no  sound  till  dawn,  when  I  was  aware  of  a  light  rustling, 
and  peeping  out,  saw  the  girls  putting  on  their  frocks. 
With  their  bare  feet  they  noiselessly  vanished,  and  then 
the  two  boys  and  I  followed.  It  was  5  a.m.,  and  in  the 
soft  bright  sunlight  the  scene  was  lovely  ;  for  all  round 
the  house  was  a  peach  and  apple  orchard  in  full  bloom, 
and  through  the  sunlit  vistas  between  the  blossom-laden 
trees,  glimpses  of  the  sparkling,  shining  river  could  be 
caught  alive  with  fish,  rising  for  the  flies  that  skimmed 
the  surface.  I  stood  at  the  door  a  brief  moment,  entranced 
and  spellbound  by  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  It  seemed 
a  veritable  paradise,  and  I  resolved  to  become  its  Adam, 
if  possible. 

Then  the  inevitable  Eve  broke  the  spell  by  wishing 
me  a  pleasant  good-morning  and  asking  if  she  could 
"  pour  water  "  for  me.  It  was  Lizzie  Baily,  the  youngest 
daughter  of  the  house,  barefooted  and  homespun-clad, 
as  were  her  mother  and  sisters,  but  full  of  courtesy,  and 
of  gentle  manners.  Indeed,  all  were  full  of  kindly 
hospitality,  and  I  felt  at  once  quite  at  home  with  them. 

Already  the  day's  work  had  begun  ;  the  cows  were 
milked,  the  horses  fed,  I  looking  after  my  own  ;  and  then, 
by  seven  o'clock,  we  all  sat  down  to  breakfast,  the  bill  of 
fare  the  same  as  at  supper.  After  breakfast  old  Baily 
insisted  on  a  modicum  of  whiskey,  and  then  started  out 
with  me  for  a  long  day's  walk  round  the  farm,  as  fresh 
and  "  fit,"  his  overnight  potations  notwithstanding,  as 
though  he  knew  not  the  flavour  of  spirits. 

The  farm,  or  estate,  was  nearly  a  thousand  acres  in 
extent.  Below  the  orchard,  sloping  down  to  the  river, 
was  a  field  of  timothy  grass,  of  thirty  acres,  and  beyond 
this  the  clear-running  shallow  river,  thirty  yards  wide. 


A    STROLL    ROUND  27 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  the  banks  rose  into  per 
pendicular  cliffs,  crowned  with  magnificent  timber,  and 
beyond  these  were  level,  fertile  fields  of  about  a  hundred 
acres  cleared,  fenced,  and  planted  with  corn.  The  fencing, 
which  was  "  worm,"  was  very  bad,  and  on  all  the  farm 
there  were  no  "  slip-bars,"  or  gates. 

A  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  house,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  a  clear  mountain  stream,  called  Crane 
Creek,  ran  into  the  Bluestone.  This  Baily  had  dammed 
a  short  distance  from  the  junction,  and  put  up  a  log-built 
mill,  with  one  pair  of  stones.  It  was  the  only  corn-mill 
for  miles  round,  and  seemed  to  be  a  rather  valuable 
asset.  It  was  worked  by  George  Baily  himself,  and  I 
found  that  the  running  of  it  was  his  only  contribution 
to  the  family  resources. 

About  seven  hundred  acres  of  the  land  lay  on  Crane 
Creek,  running  back  on  either  side  to  the  steep  rich 
ridges  covered  with  heavy  timber,  amongst  which  were 
groves,  or  "  orchards,"  as  they  called  them,  of  "  sugar 
trees  "  and  sugar  maples.  The  rest  of  the  farm,  about 
three  hundred  acres,  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Blue- 
stone,  and  along  it  and  Crane  Creek  too  there  were 
ancient  clearings,  probably  fifty  years  old. 

There  were  no  outbuildings  on  the  place  except  a 
miserable  open  log  shed,  in  which  three  horses  could 
stand,  and  a  log  pen  for  fattening  hogs.  These,  in  the 
proper  season  of  the  year,  were  fed  on  peaches,  which 
would  else  have  rotted  and  gone  to  waste  ;  a  diet  which 
would  almost  commend  their  flesh  to  vegetarians,  had 
there  been  any  of  that  cult  in  Virginia  in  those  days. 
Behind  the  stable  was  a  small  garden,  or  "  truck  patch," 
in  which  the  women  folk  raised  what  they  called  "  garden 
sass,"  no  man  ever  putting  hand  to  such  work,  which 
was  considered  infra  dig.  for  them,  and  only  fit  for 
women  ! 

For  ten  long  hours  the  old  man  and  I  walked  round  the 
farm,  till  I  think  I  had  seen  everything  on  it  that  was 


28          THE    FARM    ON    THE    BLUESTONE 

to  be  seen.  It  seemed  to  me  a  fine  estate,  and  indeed 
would  have  been  so  regarded  in  this  country,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  buy  it,  if  I  could  get  it  at  my  price,  which 
was  $1,500  or  £300  in  English  money. 

After  supper  that  evening,  as  we  smoked  our  long 
cane-stemmed  pipes  on  the  gallery  whilst  the  women 
were  busy  with  their  spinning,  the  bargaining  began. 
Baily  asked  me  $2,000.  I  told  him  I  could  not  pay  that, 
as  the  condition  of  the  house,  mill,  and  fencing  was  so 
bad,  but  would  give  $1,500  if  the  title  proved  to  be  good, 
and  pay  a  deposit  now  of  $20.  Probably  I  would  take 
all  the  stock  he  wished  to  sell.  Finding  Baily  would  not 
give  way  and  that  "  lying  down  "  time  had  come,  I  went 
to  bed,  saying  I  must  get  back  to  Princeton  in  the 
morning,  as  I  had  many  other  places  to  look  at. 

Daylight  saw  us  all  astir,  and,  after  "  water  pouring," 
Council  and  I  went  out  into  the  woods  to  shoot  squirrels 
for  breakfast,  Manor  of  course  with  us.  Poor  fellow  ! 
he  was  not  master  of  the  art  of  "  treeing," — i.e.  standing 
under  the  tree  and  barking,  when  his  game  had  treed, 
as  all  the  country  dogs  do.  However,  Council  soon  shot 
a  couple  with  his  long  flint-and-steel  Kentucky  rifle,  and 
we  returned  as  fast  as  we  could,  as  the  girls  were  waiting 
to  cook  them.  In  less  than  no  time  they  were  skinned, 
cut  up,  and  stewed  in  cream  gravy,  and  were  delicious 
eating. 

After  breakfast  Baily,  finding  he  could  not  screw  me 
up  to  his  terms,  accepted  mine.  A  piece  of  paper  was 
found,  after  considerable  search,  and  I  drew  up  the 
agreement  for  sale  as  well  as  I  could,  and  paid  over  my 
$20,  for  which  I  took  a  receipt. 

It  was  agreed  he  was  to  give  me  possession  at  Michael 
mas,  and  in  the  meantime  Jack  Galliers  and  I  were  to 
board  with  the  family  as  paying  guests.  Now  I  said 
good-bye,  mounted  my  confounded  slug  of  a  colt,  and  set 
off  for  Princeton  in  high  feather  with  myself  and  all  the 
world. 


FOREST    AISLES  29 

You  bet,  as  ray  Virginian  friends  would  say,  I  was  a 
proud  and  happy  youngster  that  glorious  summer  day  ! 
Just  twenty-one,  with  health  and  strength  and  energy 
enough  for  anything  ;  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm,  with 
money  enough  to  stock  it — what  more  could  heart 
desire  ? 

No  purchase  I  have  made  since,  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  has  given  me  the  pleasure  this  did.  One  drop 
of  bitterness  there  was — the  thought  that  settling  here 
meant  long  years  of  separation  from  friends  at  home ; 
but  boy-like  I  soon  brushed  the  melancholy  aside  and 
was  happy  again.  Youth  is  selfish  ;  it  is  only  to  the 
old  that  separation  is  so  bitter. 

Joe  Alvis  and  his  wife  highly  approved  my  purchase, 
and  said,  "  Now  you  are  a  real  Virginian." 

Next  morning  I  rode  off  to  Emmanuel  Jenks  to  look 
up  Jack,  for  I  feared  he  might  be  flattered  and  bribed  by 
that  worthy  into  deserting  me  for  good,  and  I  could  not 
get  on  without  his  help  on  the  farm.  Arrived  at  "  Flat 
Topped  Mountain,"  I  found  Jenks  and  Jack  were  both 
away  at  the  road-making  camp.  I  fed  my  horse,  treated 
myself  to  corn  cake  and  whiskey,  and  set  off  on  my  fifteen- 
mile  ride  to  find  them. 

My  way  lay  by  a  narrow  bridle-path  through  the  forest, 
the  trees  of  which  stood  in  their  primeval  glory,  decked 
in  all  their  summer  beauty  of  foliage  and  of  flower.  No 
human  being  was  seen,  nor  sign  of  human  habitation 
met  with  ;  solemn  silence  reigned,  save  for  the  muffled 
sound  of  my  horse's  feet  on  the  soft  earth,  and  these 
forest  aisles  loomed  awe-inspiring  in  their  grandeur ; 
temples  raised  by  God  Himself,  and  seeming  meet  for 
His  habitation. 

It  was  late  when  I  reached  the  camp  of  eight  or  nine 
rough  shanties  of  poles  and  brush,  by  the  side  of  the  new 
road.  Jenks  and  Jack  came  out  and  welcomed  me 
heartily,  and  soon  we  were  seated  on  a  log  enjoying  a 
good  supper  of  strong  coffee,  corn-bread,  and  fried  bacon. 


30         THE    FARM    ON    THE    BLUESTONE 

When  I  told  my  tale,  Jenks,  who  was  a  good  fellow, 
said  Jack  was  his  best  hand,  but  he  would  not  for  a 
moment  try  to  keep  him  from  me.  Jack,  with  many 
expletives,  declared  it  would  be  no  good  if  he  did,  for  he 
meant  to  work  with  me  anyway.  Indeed,  I  verily  believe 
he  was  as  much  pleased  as  I  was  to  know  that  I  had 
found  a  new  home  for  us  both. 

The  road  they  were  making  was  a  simple  affair,  though 
it  was  a  County  one.  The  side  of  the  hill  was  cut  down 
straight  with  mattocks,  the  lower  side  or  slope  braced 
with  timber  cut  along  it  to  keep  it  from  washing  away, 
and  the  surface,  about  twenty  feet  wide,  ploughed  with 
a  wooden  plough  of  local  manufacture  and  then  made 
fairly  level  with  shovels.  A  soft  road  indeed,  and  in 
wet  weather  pretty  muddy,  but  much  better  than  none. 

After  supper,  I  remember,  we  sat  out  on  our  log, 
smoking  and  chatting.  Presently  Jenks  and  Jack  fell 
drowsy  and  I  sat  on  in  the  soft  summer  air,  under  the 
starlit  sky,  in  a  silence  only  broken,  now  and  then,  by 
the  sweet,  plaintive  cries  of  the  whip-poor-wills,  or  the 
distant  baying  of  a  wolf  in  the  depths  of  the  surrounding 
forest. 

Next  morning,  after  a  sound  sleep  by  Emmanuel's 
side  on  a  shakedown,  a  rather  scanty  "  pouring,"  for 
water  was  scarce,  and  a  good  breakfast  of  the  usual  fare, 
I  arranged  with  Jack  to  be  at  the  Bluestone  in  a  fort 
night's  time,  there  to  await  my  arrival,  if  I  had  not 
returned  from  Richmond,  where  I  was  going  to  fetch 
our  things. 

Then  Jenks  and  I  rode  off  through  the  forest,  following 
no  path  but  guided  by  the  sun,  to  the  farm  of  a  man 
named  Salisbury,  about  four  miles  away,  who  was  said 
to  have  a  smart  little  riding  mare,  which  I  wanted  to 
swap  my  unmannerly  colt  for.  Jenks  took  us  all  right 
through  the  pathless  woods,  and  we  came  out  straight 
on  Salisbury's  clearing.  There  we  were  received  in  the 
usual  hospitable  fashion  and  given  an  excellent  dinner, 


A    HORSE    SWAP  31 

which  besides  the  inevitable  pig  meat,  I  remember,  in 
cluded  a  dish  of  venison. 

After  the  meal  the  mare  was  driven  up,  a  smart  little 
thing  about  14 J  hands,  well  bred,  and  a  good  mover. 
Of  course  when  it  came  to  the  deal  we  both  wanted 
"  boots,"  so  finally  we  left  it  to  Jenks  to  say  who  should 
draw,  and  what.  He  decided  I  was  to  give  $2J,  which 
I  did,  and  I  think  both  Salisbury  and  I  were  pleased 
with  our  bargains  ;  I  know  I  was,  at  any  rate,  for 
the  little  mare — I  called  her  "  Fiddle  "•  -  turned  out  to 
be  as  good  as  she  looked. 

One  more  night  I  spent  in  Jenks's  camp,  rolled  up  in  a 
blanket,  and  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  forest  cries  of  birds 
and  beasts,  than  which  there  is  no  sweeter  lullaby  for 
weary  mortal. 

Jack  was  pleased  to  highly  approve  my  swap.  He 
promised  again  to  turn  up  without  fail  on  the  appointed 
day  at  the  Bluestone,  and  then  with  many  good-byes 
I  mounted  Fiddle  and  started  for  Princeton,  en  route 
for  Richmond,  a  distance  of  260  miles  there  and  back  ; 
a  long  and  solitary  ride,  but  pleasant  enough  in  those 
glorious  summer  mornings  and  evenings. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    CAMP   MEETING 

NOTHING  befell  me  on  the  journey  to  Richmond  and 
back  worth  recording.  The  canal  boat-trip  was  even 
more  pleasant  than  the  previous  one,  since  the  crowd 
was  less  and  there  was  more  room  to  stretch  one's  legs  at 
night.  Otherwise  everything  on  board  was  the  same, 
and  I  fancied  I  recognised  my  old  friends  the  tooth 
brushes,  hanging  in  the  same  old  place,  but  looking  rather 
the  worse  for  wear. 

Returning  to  the  Bluestone  I  was  joined  in  a  couple 
of  days  by  Jack  Galliers,  and  we  soon  got  to  work  on  the 
farm.  I  was  not  to  pay  for  it,  or  to  get  possession  till 
Michaelmas,  but,  as  Baily  was  quite  willing  to  let  me  do 
what  I  liked  on  the  place,  if  he  were  not  expected  to 
work  himself,  I  settled  to  pay  a  very  moderate  weekly 
board  for  Jack  and  myself,  until  such  time  as  the  Bailys 
departed. 

Nearly  all  the  arable  fields  were  cumbered  with 
deadened  and  dead  trunks  of  great  trees,  and  the  first 
job  we  undertook  was  to  log  them  up  and  burn  them. 
This  was  about  the  heaviest  work  I  have  ever  done,  for 
the  midsummer  heat  was  terrific.  Still  we  stuck  to  it 
manfully,  Jack  working  like  the  British  navvy  that  he 
was,  and  by  the  fall  we  had  made  a  pretty  good  clearance, 
so  that  the  fields  looked  more  shipshape. 

Failing  his  beloved  beer,  I  regret  to  say  Jack  took 
more  and  more  kindly  to  the  "  wine  of  the  country,"  or 
corn  whiskey,  which  he  got  at  Richard  Bailey's  still  about 

32 


JACK    AND    I    PART  33 

three  miles  down  the  river.  He  kept  sober  enough  to  do 
his  work,  but  grew  quarrelsome  in  his  cups,  and  the  still 
led  at  last  to  our  parting,  which  came  about  in  this  way  : 

As  winter  came  on  his  vists  to  the  still  grew  more 
frequent,  and  he  more  morose.  I  realised  I  should  have 
to  get  rid  of  him  sooner  or  later,  and  got  a  man  named 
Bryant  and  his  wife  to  come  to  me  as  helps  and  to  live 
in  the  house. 

Jack  then  having  left  me  in  a  very  bad  humour,  I  met 
him  one  evening  at  Thompson  Bailey's  house,  when  he 
challenged  me  to  fight  with  "  fistises,"  as  he  called  them. 
I  knew  I  was  no  match  for  him,  the  great  burly  navvy 
with  muscles  like  iron,  but  I  could  not  show  the  white 
feather  before  the  natives,  for  the  credit  of  Old  England. 
So  for  half  an  hour  we  had  it  up  and  down,  in  the  front 
of  the  house,  to  the  delectation  of  the  spectators.  Jack, 
I  am  bound  to  confess,  whipped  me  badly,  and  for  many 
a  day  I  bore  the  marks  of  his  "  fistises,"  though  I  rejoice 
to  remember  that  he  did  not  escape  scathless. 

A  few  weeks  after  this  he  came  to  my  house,  about 
ten  o'clock  at  night,  mad  drunk,  and  armed  with  an  axe, 
with  which  he  began  to  batter  in  the  door,  vowing  he 
would  kill  me.  Mrs.  Bryant,  in  terror,  begged  me  not 
to  go  out,  but  I  had  to,  unless  I  wished  to  see  the  infuriated 
Jack  burst  in  upon  us,  for  the  door  was  giving  way. 
I  can't  say  I  liked  the  position,  but,  realising  that  it 
was  safest  to  take  the  aggressive,  I  seized  a  pair  of 
"  pot-hooks,"  suddenly  opened  the  door,  and  before 
Jack  could  use  his  axe,  felled  him  to  the  ground. 

We  carried  him  into  the  house  in  a  pretty  bad  way, 
for  I  had  nearly  cracked  his  skull,  hard  as  it  was,  and  it 
was  a  week  before  he  was  well  enough  to  leave.  He 
had  the  grace  to  confess  that  he  had  only  got  his  deserts. 
It  was  a  rough  but  salutary  lesson  to  him,  for  he  was 
afraid  to  molest  me  any  more. 

While  Jack  still  abode  with  us  and  was  fairly  decent 
in  his  behaviour,  we  got  through  a  lot  of  work  on  the 

3 


34  THE    CAMP    MEETING 

place.  Besides  clearing  the  land  of  logs,  we  put  all  the 
fencing  into  good  repair,  put  up  a  pretty  porch  over  the 
door,  and  windows  and  partitions  in  both  the  rooms,  so 
that  the  house,  when  I  sold  it  in  the  following  summer, 
was,  for  that  country,  and  those  times,  quite  a  nice 
place. 

Till  the  Bailys  left  in  the  fall  we  got  on  very  well 
together,  the  old  lady  and  the  girls  doing  all  they  could 
to  make  me  comfortable.  They  were  always  hard  at 
work  in  their  kitchen,  or  at  their  spinning  or  weaving ; 
but  Baily  himself  took  things  very  easy,  and  did  scarcely 
any  work,  so  it  was  not  difficult  to  understand  why  he 
had  not  made  a  success  of  farming.  Indeed,  his  was 
no  exceptional  case,  for  many  of  the  backwoods  farmers 
seemed  thoroughly  lacking  in  energy  and  go  ;  probably 
it  was  the  hopelessness  of  the  conditions  under  which 
they  lived,  in  those  dense  forests,  that  made  them  so. 

During  all  this  summer  of  hard  work  my  only  recreation 
was  to  ride,  with  one  or  other  of  the  girls,  to  an  occasional 
preaching,  held  at  some  neighbour's  farm. 

As  August  drew  to  an  end  a  great  event  happened, 
and  that  was  the  holding  of  a  Methodist  Camp  Meeting 
at  Brush  Creek,  a  few  miles  from  the  Bluestone.  All 
the  folks  I  knew  in  the  neighbourhood  were  going,  and 
hundreds  more  from  the  surrounding  counties  would 
collect  for  what,  to  them,  was  the  greatest  and  most 
exciting  annual  event  in  their  placid  lives.  Of  course  I 
went  too,  having  received  many  invitations  from  friends 
living  near  the  spot,  and  from  others  who  had  permanent 
camps  fixed  at  the  meeting-place. 

It  was  the  first  function  of  the  kind  I  had  seen,  and  I 
confess  it  made  a  great  impression  on  me.  Let  me  try 
to  describe  it  in  its  light,  and  in  its  shade  ;  for  like  all 
things  mundane,  it  was  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil, 
though  I  think  the  former  predominated. 

The  setting  of  the  picture  was  some  of  Nature's  mop1} 
beautiful  handiwork,  for  all  round  the  little  clearing,  of 


THE    "MOURNERS'    BENCH"  35 

about  two  acres,  stood  the  primeval  forest  of  oak,  hickory, 
and  walnut,  and  from  their  giant  limbs  hung  and  twined, 
and  twisted  and  stretched,  the  all-embracing  grape-vines, 
their  leaves  just  lightly  touched  with  the  bronze  of  the 
fading  summer.  Round  three  sides  of  the  square,  under 
the  shade  of  the  overhanging  trees,  were  the  permanent 
cabins  of  the  well-to-do  people  of  the  neighbourhood. 
On  the  fourth  side  the  preaching  house  stood  open-sided, 
and  seated  with  rough  "  puncheon  slabs,"  a  passage 
in  the  middle  dividing  the  men  from  the  women.  In 
the  centre  was  a  platform  and  rostrum  for  the  preacher, 
and  just  below  it  an  open  space,  about  fourteen  feet 
square,  enclosed  by  a  rail,  called  the  "  Mourners'  bench." 

Camp  guards  were  appointed  to  keep  order  and  decorum 
within  the  precincts  of  the  meeting-ground,  and  within 
its  boundaries  everything  was  decorous  enough.  The 
stillness  and  solemnity  there  were  only  broken  by  the 
preacher's  voice,  or  the  singing  of  popular  hymn  tunes, 
with  an  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  that  carried  one 
away,  as  by  a  flood,  when  the  congregation  had  been 
stirred  and  moved  by  some  powerful  pulpit  oration. 
That  singing  haunts  me  now ;  I  never  heard  its  like  in 
any  church  or  cathedral.  The  dark  solemnity  of  the 
surrounding  woods,  contrasted  with  the  flickering  gleam 
of  the  torches,  which  half  revealed,  half  hid  the  intense 
excitement  of  the  faces  upturned  in  an  exaltation  of 
repentance,  as  the  preacher  denounced  woe  and  tribula 
tion  on  unrepentant  sinners,  made  a  scene  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

Towards  midnight,  when  the  fervour  had  reached  its 
highest  pitch,  from  the  semi-darkness  surrounding  the 
preacher  would  be  heard  cries  and  screams  and  ejacula 
tions.  The  "  Mourners'  bench  "  would  fill  with  penitents, 
and  girls  would  cry  to  their  lovers,  fathers  and  mothers 
to  their  children,  to  join  them  there  and  find  salvation. 

There  was  something  so  weird,  so  striking,  so  con 
tagious  in  this  intense  exaltation,  that  the  hardest  and 


36  THE    CAMP    MEETING 

wildest  natures  were  affected,  at  least  temporarily,  and 
those  who  elsewhere,  and  at  other  times,  scarce  uttered 
a  prayer,  might  be  seen  weeping  and  lamenting  their 
sins  in  deep  abasement.  For  my  own  part,  I  felt  deeply 
moved,  but,  though  frequently  called  upon,  I  did  not 
"  go  forward  to  get  religion." 

This  was  one  phase  of  camp-meeting  life,  and  its  best ; 
the  other  side  of  the  picture  was  of  the  world,  worldly. 

In  the  woods,  away  from  the  camp  ground,  were  rows 
of  buggies  and  light  wagons,  and  ipens  for  horses,  kept 
by  negroes,  who  took  in  and  fed  your  mount  for  a  dollar 
a  day  ;  a  busy,  merry  scene  of  cooking  and  laughter 
and  picnicing,  innocent  enough,  but  somewhat  incon 
gruous.  Farther  away  still,  about  a  mile  from  camp, 
and  kept  very  quiet,  were  to  be  found  a  few  barrels  of 
whiskey  by  those  who  knew  where  to  look  for  them,  and 
a  good  many  apparently  did. 

Then  there  were  constables  collecting  debts,  horse 
dealers  and  "  swappers  "  plying  their  trades,  and  crowds 
of  young  folks  bent  solely  on  amusement,  though  even 
these  probably  would  be  swept  into  the  vortex  of  ex 
citement  and  enthusiasm  when  the  "  Mourners'  bench  " 
began  to  fill. 

Strolling  in  the  quiet  woods,  still  farther  afield  from 
the  camp,  card  parties  might  be  seen,  and  a  good  deal 
of  heavy  gambling  went  on  amongst  them.  Indeed,  the 
whole  scene  was  an  epitome  of  the  world  and  life  in 
general,  for  many  good  people  were  there,  and  many  bad. 

The  negroes,  of  course,  had  their  own  separate  preaching 
stand,  and  once  or  twice  I  was  present  at  their  meetings, 
which  were  much  like  those  of  the  whites,  only,  if  possible, 
marked  by  wilder  and  more  frantic  excitement. 

These  Camp  Meetings  were  their  happiest  times,  poor 
fellows,  and  exactly  suited  to  the  negro  temperament. 

Amongst  the  first  friends  I  met  at  the  camp  were  a 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herndon,  who  had  brought  their  family, 
two  girls  of  fifteen  and  sixteen,  and  two  younger  boys. 


KINDLY    SLAVEOWNERS  37 

He  was  a  well-to-do  planter,  and,  besides  his  family,  had 
brought  quite  a  retinue  of  slaves.  I  put  up  with  the 
Herndons  and  was  charmed  with  their  society.  Mrs. 
Herndon  was  a  delightful  hostess,  cultured  and  refined, 
and  a  thoroughly  good  woman.  I  remember  strolling 
round  the  camp  with  her  and  one  of  the  girls,  and  how 
sorely  she  was  troubled  by  the  mixture  of  religion  and 
vanity  in  the  scene,  and  how  she  begged  me  to  keep 
away  from  those  only  bent  on  pleasure,  to  think 
seriously,  and  to  "  get  religion." 

The  husband  and  herself  were  typical  slave-owners  of 
the  best  class,  and  the  negroes  they  owned  were  fortunate. 
Of  course  they  were  all  known  to  me,  and  one  old  negress 
I  remember  well,  a  great  favouite  of  her  mistress  and  a 
thoroughly  good  old  soul,  Aunt  Rhoda  by  name. 

She  was  deeply  concerned  for  my  spiritual  welfare, 
and,  meeting  me  one  night  as  I  left  the  preaching,  threw 
her  ams  round  my  neck  and  prayed  me,  with  all  her 
might,  to  "  get  religion."  Poor  old  soul  !  She  could  not 
understand,  when  I  tried  to  explain  why  I  didn't  "  come 
forward,"  and  was  much  troubled  as  to  my  future  state. 

During  my  life  in  the  West  I  was  present  at  many 
other  Camp  Meetings,  which  were  conducted  in  much 
the  same  manner  as  this,  but  none  made  such  an  impres 
sion  on  me  ;  it  was  a  new  experience,  and  a  strange  one, 
utterly  unlike  anything  in  the  Old  Country. 

I  stayed  a  whole  week  at  the  camp  with  my  kind 
friends,  and  then  one  night,  when  the  preaching  was 
over  and  the  singing  nearly  done,  said  good-bye  and 
rode  off  on  my  homeward  journey.  It  was  a  lovely 
moonlit  night,  and  as  I  rode  through  the  quiet  forest 
glades,  the  sound  of  the  last  hymn  at  first  rang  loud  and 
clear,  gradually  dying  away  into  silence,  and  ell  was 
still.  My  first  Camp  Meeting  was  over,  but  not  the  im 
pression  it  made  upon  me. 

Soon  after  the  Camp  Meeting,  I  joined  with  the  settlers 
in  the  neighbourhood  in  building  a  log  church,  for  the 


38  THE    CAMP    MEETING 

Episcopal  Methodists,  in  a  lovely  secluded  spot  on  the 
Bluestone,  about  two  miles  below  me.  Every  one 
worked  cheerfully  and  willingly  at  it,  moved  thereto  by 
the  wave  of  enthusiasm  started  by  the  Camp  Meeting, 
and  the  church  was  quickly  built.  It  was  a  simple  enough 
affair,  but  a  great  benefit  to  the  settlement,  for  "  preach 
ings  "  were  often  held  there,  and  generally  well  attended, 
settlers  and  their  wives  and  families  riding  in  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  to  the  services. 

That  summer  I  made  a  good  crop  of  corn,  and,  by  the 
aid  of  a  "  raising,"  built  a  barn  to  hold  it. 

It  was  a  kindly,  neighbourly  custom  in  those  parts, 
when  help  was  wanted  for  such  a  work,  for  all  one's 
friends  to  bear  a  hand.  They  came  from  far  and  near, 
and  it  was  quite  a  holiday  gathering.  Many  hands  make 
light  work,  and  by  sundown  the  barn  was  built. 

With  the  help  of  my  lady  friends,  who  lent  me  the 
table  requisites,  I  provided  a  good  supper,  with  a  suffi 
ciency  of  whiskey  and  apple-brandy.  Then  followed  a 
dance,  to  the  music  of  a  fiddle,  and  we  had  what  my 
friends  called  "  a  good  time." 

That  winter,  as  farm  work  was  slack,  I  did  a  good 
deal  of  hunting,  and  had  some  very  good  sport  with 
Manor,  and  when  "  still "  hunting  without  him  ;  but  that, 
and  other  events  that  soon  after  befell  me  and  caused 
me  much  disquietude  at  the  time,  must  be  reserved  for 
another  chapter. 


CHAPTER    V 

DURANCE   VILE 

ABOUT  the  middle  of  November,  there  being  little  or  no 
work  to  be  done  on  the  farm,  I  went  on  a  shooting  trip — 
"  hunting,"  we  always  called  it — with  Burrell  Baily,  my 
old  friend's  eldest  son. 

One  misty,  cold  morning  wo  started  for  our  ground, 
about  twenty  miles  off  in  the  high  ridges,  and  took  with 
us  corn  for  our  horses,  and  corn-meal,  bacon,  and  whiskey 
for  ourselves. 

We  were  "  still  "  hunting,  so  had  to  leave  poor  Manor 
behind,  much  to  his  disgust. 

I  remember  we  killed  a  doe  on  the  way,  and  when  we 
made  our  camp  that  night  in  a  sheltered  hollow,  fared 
sumptuously  thereon.  A  chat  over  our  plans  for  the 
next  day,  a  pipe  and  glass  of  whiskey  therewith,  and  so 
to  sleep,  rolled  in  our  blankets  and  our  saddles  for  pillows. 
No  sleep  so  sound  and  refreshing  is  to  be  got  on  any 
feather  bed  as  in  a  hunting-camp,  after  a  good  hard  day's 
work  in  the  open  air  ;  you  have  earned  your  rest,  and 
enjoy  it  the  more. 

Many  and  many  a  time  I  have  slept  out  on  the  open 
prairie,  when  travelling  or  scouting,  wrapped  in  a  blanket, 
under  the  glorious  tent  of  the  summer  sky,  with  the  cool 
night  air  fanning  away  the  scorching  of  the  day,  and  that 
perhaps  is  the  most  delightful  sleep  of  all ;  unless  you 
happen  to  be  in  an  Indian  country,  and  then,  possibly, 
you  may  have  uncomfortable  dreams  about  your  scalp. 

39 


40  DURANCE    VILE 

The  country  we  were  hunting  in  this  trip  was  about 
the  wildest  I  ever  saw  anywhere  in  the  States  ;  it  was 
a  succession  of  lofty  ridges,  deep  rocky  ravines,  and 
tumbling  mountain  torrents.  No  human  habitation  was 
within  miles  of  us,  and  game  abounded,  especially  deer 
and  bear,  which  we  were  after.  Wolves  and  foxes  were 
numerous  too,  and  so  daring  that  we  had  to  hoist  our 
kills  high  up  on  trees  to  keep  them  out  of  their 
reach. 

All  the  ridges  were  covered  with  the  finest  timber  and 
were  fairly  clear  of  brush,  but  in  the  bottoms  there  was 
a  dense  growth  of  "  ivy  and  laurel,"  splendid  cover  for 
the  deer. 

We  started  out  of  camp  early  next  morning,  Baily 
taking  one  ridge,  and  I  another,  not  without  some  fear 
on  my  part  of  losing  myself  in  those  vast  woods.  That 
day  Baily  got  a  bear  and  a  fine  buck,  and  I  a  doe  and 
a  brace  of  pheasants,  which  was  pretty  good  for  a  be 
ginner,  for  it  was  only  the  second  time  I  had  tried  my 
hand  with  an  old  Kentucky  rifle. 

Four  days  we  hunted,  working  hard  each  day  and 
seeing  an  immense  quantity  of  game,  and  then,  having 
got  as  much  bear  and  deer  meat  as  our  horses  could  carry, 
started  for  home,  well  pleased  with  ourselves.  Of  course 
we  only  took  the  hams  of  the  bears  and  the  loins  of  the 
deer,  and  then  were  well  loaded  up. 

As  I  have  already  said,  I  sold  my  farm  the  following 
summer,  and  my  friend  Herndon  was  the  purchaser  at 
$2,000.  He  was  to  take  possession  at  Michaelmas,  and 
in  the  meantime  let  me  have  three  of  his  negroes  to  work 
it — Rhoda,  a  cooky  and  two  boys,  Buck  and  Sam  by 
name — and  very  useful  they  were. 

By  that  time  I  had  fifty  head  of  nice  young  cattle  on 
the  place,  and  tried  to  sell  them  at  auction,  but  failing 
to  get  my  price,  kept  them,  and  after  a  bit  drove  them  to 
Milam's  Ridge,  a  wild  out-of-the-way  place  fifty  miles 
off.  One  of  the  numerous  tribe  of  Baileys  lived  there, 


HORSE-DEALING  41 

with  a  large  family  of  daughters,  in  a  rough  log  cabin, 
and  made  his  living  by  hunting.  He  undertook  to  winter 
my  cattle  for  $1  a  head,  and  looked  after  them  very  well, 
though  he  had  not  much  to  do  except  to  round  them  up 
every  now  and  then,  for  of  course  they  got  their  own 
living  in  the  woods. 

Having  sold  the  farm,  and  being  "  foot  loose,"  I  made  an 
arrangement  with  another  Bailey,  Richard  by  name,  and 
a  J.P.,  at  a  place  called  Rock  Settlement,  to  board  with 
him,  whenever  I  liked,  at  $2.50  a  week,  including  horse- 
keep  as  well.  There  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  man 
named  Burnett,  who  kept  a  store  in  partnership  with 
George  Paris  of  Princeton,  one  of  the  few  men  in  the 
town  with  whom  I  was  not  very  friendly.  Paris  was  a 
well-to-do  man,  for  those  parts,  but  was  unscrupulous, 
overbearing,  and  harsh  in  his  dealings. 

Burnett  had  recently  married  a  girl  from  Princeton 
whom  I  knew,  and  we  three  became  great  friends  ;  a 
most  unfortunate  friendship  it  proved  to  be  for  me,  and 
eventually  landed  me  in  prison,  though  only  for  a  brief 
period. 

My  only  excuse  for  getting  into  such  a  mess  was  that 
I  was  very  young,  and  quite  without  business  experience, 
believed  Burnett's  assurance  that  Paris  was  trying  to  rob 
him — which,  a  priori,  was  not  improbable — and  when 
once  in  it,  thought  it  my  duty  to  protect  his  wife's 
interests  at  all  risks. 

Burnett  was,  as  events  proved,  an  unmitigated  rascal, 
and  I,  in  my  simplicity,  was  made  a  tool  of  by  him.  He 
invited  me  to  join  him  in  a  horse-selling  trip  into  Eastern 
Virginia,  and  I  having  some  fifty  horses  for  sale,  agreed 
to  go  with  him.  If  his  horses  sold  well  he  meant  to  settle 
up  with  all  his  creditors  except  Paris,  who  was  trying  to 
rob  him,  and  then  go  out  West. 

We  started  with  a  bunch  of  125  horses,  seventy-five 
of  Burnett's  and  fifty  of  my  own,  and  did  very  well 
with  them  till  we  arrived  at  a  place  called  Charlotte 


42  DURANCE    VILE 

Court  House  one  Saturday  evening,  with  only  about  a 
dozen  unsold. 

Whilst  I  was  out  in  the  town  Paris  appeared  on  the 
scene,  and  he  and  Burnett  had  a  very  lively  time,  I 
believe.  The  latter  reported  that  Paris  was  trying  to 
rob  him  not  only  of  the  proceeds  of  his  horse  sales,  but 
of  two  notes  for  $1,000  each  which  he  held.  Would  I 
hold  the  notes,  which  he  would  endorse  to  me,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  poor  wife,  and  save  her  from  want  ?  Of 
course  I  would,  egregious  ass  that  I  was,  and  pledged 
my  word  to  collect  the  $2,000  and  hand  them  to  his 
wife,  despite  the  rapacious  Paris  and  anything  he  could 
do  !  Then  my  friend  Burnett  rode  off  with  about 
$2,500  in  his  belt,  after  selling  me  the  four  horses  he 
had  left,  and  I  never  saw  or  heard  from  him  again. 

Well,  I  soon  sold  out  the  rest  of  my  horses  and  set  off 
on  my  homeward  journey  in  high  feather,  with  $250  in 
gold,  notes,  and  silver  in  a  purse  in  my  breeches  pocket, 
and  the  balance  of  about  $3,000  in  a  large  pocket-book 
carried  in  my  saddle-bag.  This  may  seem  foolish,  but  as 
there  were  no  banks  in  which  to  deposit  it,  there  was 
nothing  else  to  be  done. 

My  first  halt  was  at  King  Edward's  Court  House,  and 
as  I  walked  up  the  steps  of  the  tavern,  I  thrust  my  hand 
into  my  pocket  to  feel  for  my  purse.  It  was  gone  !  In 
vain  I  searched  all  my  pockets.  It  had  vanished. 

It  was  Saturday,  and  a  holiday  for  most  of  the  niggers 
on  the  plantations,  many  of  whom  I  had  met  on  the 
road,  and  no  doubt  some  of  them  had  found  my  treasure  ; 
I  at  any  rate  didn't,  though  I  wasted  a  whole  day 
searching  for  it. 

It  was  now  the  month  of  May,  and  the  weather  very 
warm,  so  on  my  last  day's  ride  over  the  mountains  I 
halted  at  midday  to  rest  my  horse  and  myself.  Sitting 
on  a  fallen  log  by  the  wayside  in  that  solitude,  I  lit  my 
pipe  and  then,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  pulled  my 
pocket-book  out  of  the  saddle-bag  to  examine  its  con- 


LOST    AND    FOUND  43 

tents.  Presently  I  saddled  up  and  reached  home  without 
further  halt,  just  after  dark,  but  when  I  unpacked  the 
saddle-bags,  my  money  was  nowhere  to  be  found  ! 

Nothing  could  be  done  that  night,  but  next  morning 
by  daybreak  I  started  out  with  my  friend  George  Dillon 
to  help  me,  taking  my  dog  Manor  with  me.  We  hunted 
every  yard  of  the  back  trail  without  success,  and  as  we 
neared  my  yesterday's  halting  place,  hope  died  within 
me.  But  now,  when  we  were  in  sight  of  it,  Manor,  who 
had  been  on  ahead,  came  galloping  back  with  the  pocket- 
book  in  his  mouth,  highly  pleased  with  his  find  !  The 
contents  were  intact,  and  I  rode  home  with  a  mighty  load 
off  my  mind. 

Once  again,  many  years  after  this,  I  temporarily  lost 
a  pocket-book  with  a  large  sum  of  notes  in  it — £160,  I 
think  it  was — but  it  was  restored  to  me  by  a  man  as 
honest  and  faithful  as  the  dog.  I  was  then  staying  with 
a  younger  brother,  an  officer  at  Aldershot.  We  drove 
over  to  Guildford,  and  I  put  my  hand  in  my  pocket, 
as  soon  as  we  arrived,  to  get  some  money  out — it  was 
gone. 

I  remembered  my  tribulation  of  long  ago  in  Virginia, 
but  never  supposed  I  should  be  lucky  enough  to  recover 
such  a  loss  a  second  time.  However,  when  we  drove  up 
to  my  brother's  hut,  there  stood  his  soldier  servant,  an 
Irishman,  who  had  been  with  him  several  years,  with  my 
pocket-book  grasped  in  his  hand.  I  had  left  it  on  the 
dressing-table,  and  he  found  it  directly  after  we  started. 
I,  of  course,  rewarded  him  suitably,  but  I  well  remember 
now  what  a  lecture  he  gave  me  for  my  carelessness  ! 

But  we  must  hark  back  to  Virginia,  and  my  troubles 
with  Mr.  George  Paris. 

A  day  or  two  after  my  joyful  return  home  I  rode  out  to 
the  Rock  settlement,  to  put  up  with  Richard  Bailey,  on 
my  way  to  Milam's  Ridge,  to  look  after  my  cattle  there. 

Mr.  Paris  very  shortly  appeared,  with  two  friends,  de 
manding  to  see  me.  Of  course,  I  knew  what  was  coming. 


44  DURANCE    VILE 

and  braced  myself  up  for  the  struggle.  I  firmly  believed 
I  was  in  the  right,  and  wasn't  going  to  be  bullied  into 
giving  up  my  friend's  property,  so  put  my  Derringer  in 
my  pocket,  and  went  out  to  speak  with  the  enemy  in 
the  gate.  Probably,  if  he  had  quietly  explained  the  true 
state  of  affairs,  and  produced  proof  that  Burnett  was  in 
his  debt,  we  might  have  settled  matters  on  the  spot.  But 
instead  of  that  he  blustered  and  bullied,  after  the  manner 
of  his  kind,  threatening  what  he  would  do  for  me,  if  I  did 
not  at  once  hand  over  the  two  notes  for  $1,000,  and  other 
moneys  of  Burnett's,  which  he  said  he  knew  I  had  in  my 
possession. 

With  my  hand  on  my  six-shooter,  I  told  him  very 
quietly  that  I  did  not  admit  I  had  any  property  of  his, 
and  certainly  should  not  hand  anything  over  to  him, 
either  now  or  at  any  other  time.  The  man  was  a  coward, 
for  finding  bullying  was  no  good,  he  mounted  his  horse 
and  rode  off,  vowing  he  would  have  me  locked  up  as  soon 
as  he  returned  to  Princeton.  The  folks  at  the  settlement 
were  delighted  to  see  the  bully,  whom  all  disliked,  so 
cowed,  and  I  leaped  into  popularity  at  once. 

But  I  cannot  say  I  liked  the  position  I  had  got  myself 
into.  Paris  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  I  was  poor  and 
comparatively  friendless,  with  but  small  chance  of  holding 
my  own  against  him  in  the  Law  Courts,  if  it  came  to  that, 
as  it  undoubtedly  would.  But  I  had  given  my  word  to 
Burnett  not  to  hand  over  the  bills,  or  their  proceeds,  to 
any  one  but  his  wife,  so  I  felt  in  honour  bound  to  harden 
my  heart  and  see  the  matter  through. 

In  this  frame  of  mind,  which  was  rather  a  reckless  one, 
I  set  out  for  Milam's  Ridgo  to  look  after  my  cattle,  in 
tending  to  return  thence  to  Princeton  to  surrender  myself 
to  the  warrant  I  knew  would  be  out  against  me. 

The  woods  were  all  on  fire  between  me  and  the  Ridge, 
but  I  determined  to  push  on,  come  what  might,  lest  I 
should  be  arrested  before  I  had  made  my  arrangements  ; 
for  once  under  lock  and  key,  I  didn't  know  what  might 


A    FOREST   FIRE  46 

happen  to  me,  or  how  long  I  might  remain  there.  Young, 
and  ignorant  of  law  as  I  was,  it  came  into  my  mind 
that  I  might  be  charged  with  stealing  the  notes  Burnett 
had  handed  me,  and  how  could  I  prove  my  innocence  ? 
Paris,  I  knew,  would  swear  to  anything,  and  I  might  soon 
be  a  convicted  felon  ! 

With  these  distracting,  tormenting  thoughts  surging 
through  my  mind,  on  I  rode  through  the  blazing,  roaring 
flames  that  at  times  almost  barred  my  passage.  Reck 
less  and  absorbed  by  my  own  troubles  and  fears,  I  paid 
little  heed  to  the  magnificent  scene  around  and  ahead  of 
me,  though  it  was  awe-inspiring  enough  to  give  one 
pause.  The  undergrowth,  which  was  not  thick,  was 
quickly  consumed,  but  the  flames  shot  up  the  dead 
and  living  forest  trees,  a  full  hundred  feet  or  more, 
a  roaring  mass  of  fire.  Then,  with  an  appalling  crash, 
would  fall  some  giant  limb  across  the  track,  and  it  was 
only  by  God's  mercy  they  did  not  fall  on  me. 

Milam's  Ridge  was  fifty  miles  ahead  of  me,  and  as  far 
as  I  could  see,  when  the  wind,  that  followed  the  raging 
fire,  lifted  the  curtain  of  smoke,  the  whole  country  was 
on  fire.  Now,  when  I  at  last  realised  my  danger,  I  would 
gladly  have  turned  back,  but  that  was  impossible  ;  the 
fire  barred  my  passage,  and  I  must  push  through,  or 
perish  in  the  flames. 

How  I  did  it  I  don't  know,  but  at  last  I  emerged  from 
the  fiery  furnace,  not  far  from  the  Ridge.  Scorched  by 
the  heat  and  blackened  by  the  smoke,  my  horse  and  I 
were  sorry  objects  when  we  arrived,  but  I  was  deeply 
grateful  to  the  Providence  that  had  brought  me  safely 
through  that  and  so  many  other  dangers  in  my  short 
life. 

I  found  my  cattle  all  right,  and  stayed  on  with  Reuben 
Bailey  some  days  in  security,  knowing  there  was  no  fear 
of  a  warrant  being  served  on  me  in  such  a  wild  country 
as  that.  Then  I  rode  back,  through  the  awful  desolation 
of  the  charred  and  blackened  forest,  to  the  Rock  settle- 


46  DURANCE    VILE 

ment,  where  I  picked  up  my  friend  George  Dillon,  and 
went  with  him  into  Princeton  to  give  myself  up. 

Seated  on  a  verandah,  playing  backgammon,  I  saw 
the  Sheriff,  Ben  McNutt,  rode  up  to  him,  and  announced 
I  had  come  to  give  myself  up.  He  shook  hands,  and 
said  he  had  a  warrant  against  me  right  enough,  but, 
hearing  I  was  after  my  cattle  on  the  Gyandotte,  hadn't 
troubled  to  go  out  and  serve  it  there,  as  he  knew  that  I 
should  turn  up  at  the  settlement  before  long, 

I  told  him  I  was  going  to  put  my  horse  up  at  Alvis's 
tavern,  and  he  could  take  me  there.  "  Bob,  my  boy," 
he  said,  "  we'll  have  supper  together  there,  but  after 
that  I  must  lock  you  up,  sorry  as  I  am  to  have  to  do  it." 
We  had  a  very  pleasant  supper  party,  for  Ben  was  as 
good  a  fellow  as  you  would  wish  to  meet,  and  all  my 
friends  did  their  best  to  cheer  me  up.  Then  I  wrote  to 
Herndon  asking  him  to  stand  my  bail  in  $2,000,  till  next 
Court  day  in  October,  and  that  being  done,  we  all  strolled 
down  to  the  gaol,  where  I  was  duly  handed  over  into 
the  custody  of  the  gaoler  by  my  friend  Ben. 

I  was  placed  in  a  cell  on  the  ground-floor  about  ten 
feet  square,  the  only  furniture  a  rough  bed,  with  mattress 
and  blankets.  The  window  was  well  guarded  with  iron 
bars,  and  the  outer  door,  for  there  were  two,  of  which 
the  inside  one  stood  wide  open  till  locking-up  time, 
was  protected  in  like  manner  on  the  upper  half,  but 
with  sufficient  width  between  the  bars  to  admit  a  hand 
and  a  fair-sized  parcel. 

When  my  friends  departed,  and  the  heavy  lock  was 
turned  on  me,  I  confess  my  spirits  fell  to  zero,  and  I 
laid  myself  down  on  the  bed  in  a  despairing  mood. 

George  Dillon  had  taken  charge  of  my  letter  to  Herndon, 
and  had  vowed  he  would  bring  him  into  Princeton  next 
day.  But  when  he  came,  if  he  did  come,  would  he, 
or  any  one  else,  bail  me,  or  must  I  lie  in  this  miserable 
den  till  October  ?  And  in  October,  what  would  happen 
to  me  ?  Horrible  thought  !  I  might  be  sent  to  the 


A    FRIEND    IN    NEED  47 

Penitentiary  as  a  thief,  and  probably  should  be.  What 
would  my  friends  at  home  think  of  me  when  they  knew 
of  my  plight  ?  One,  I  knew,  wouldn't  believe  I  had 
done  wrong  ;  but  the  rest  ? 

As  all  these  miserable  forebodings  coursed  through 
my  mind  I  felt  more  and  more  lonely  and  sad  ;  then 
came  a  rap  at  the  outer  door,  and  a  cheery  voice  ex 
claimed,  "  See  here,  Bob,  I've  brought  you  a  book  to 
read,  and  a  flask  of  whiskey,  and  a  plug  of  tobacco, 
to  cheer  you  up.  Don't  be  down-hearted  ;  you  shall  be 
out  to-morrow,  never  fear.  Everybody  in  Princeton  is 
sorry  for  you,  and  no  one  believes  you  have  done  any 
thing  wrong."  It  was  good,  kind  little  Mrs.  Alvis,  and 
as  she  passed  the  things  in  to  me,  through  the  window 
bars,  and  grasped  my  hand,  I  felt  hope  revive,  and  that 
I  could  face  the  worst  with  an  equal  mind.  So  great  is 
the  power  of  a  little  sympathy. 

Cheered  and  comforted  by  my  little  friend's  visit,  I 
laid  me  down  and  slept  fairly  well,  and  so  passed  my 
first  night  in  prison. 


CHAPTER    VI 

A   DANCE   AND   A   FIGHT 

THE  next  morning  the  same  kind  friend  who  had  so 
cheered  me  the  previous  night  sent  me  an  ample  break 
fast  ;  and  the  outside  door  being  open,  I  had  many  visitors 
with  whom  to  talk  through  the  open  bars  of  the  inner 
one.  Some  came  to  sympathise,  and  others  to  stare 
at  the  young  Englishman  George  Paris  had  got  into 
his  clutches,  for  my  case  was  the  talk  of  the  little  town, 
and  no  doubt  pleasantly  varied  the  monotony  of  existence 
whilst  its  novelty  lasted.  But  for  me  that  day  in  prison 
dragged  its  slow  length  out  in  utter  weariness,  and  my 
heart  was  heavy  within  me,  for  no  word  came  from 
George  Dillon  or  Herndon,  and  I  verily  thought  I  was 
abandoned  as  a  prey  unto  mine  enemy. 

The  last  visitor  I  had  the  second  evening  was  a  most 
unexpected  one,  Jack  Galliers  of  all  people  in  the  world. 
He  said  he  had  only  just  heard  of  my  trouble,  and  had 
come  into  Princeton  to  see  if  he  could  do  anything  for 
me.  He  thrust  his  hard  paw  through  the  bars,  grasped 
my  hand  like  a  vice,  "  dommed  "  Paris  with  a  vigour 
all  his  own,  including  the  whole  country  in  his  anathemas, 
and  vowed  that,  if  I  would  give  the  word,  he  would 
soon  show  that  gentleman  what  he  could  do  with  his 
"  fistises." 

I  thanked  him  very  warmly  for  his  kind  remembrance 
of  me,  told  him  his  beating  Paris  would  not  help  me, 
but,  if  I  wanted  his  services,  I  would  be  sure  to  send 
him  word. 

48 


HERNDON    TO    THE    RESCUE  49 

Without  any  prompting  from  me,  he  stood  outside  by 
the  bars  and  sang  to  me  two  or  three  of  his  favourite 
ballads  in  the  deepening  twilight ;  then  we  shook 
hands  and  parted,  and  I  never  saw  him  again. 

That  second  night  I  slept  but  little  in  my  prison  cell, 
feeling  very  uneasy  at  the  non-arrival  of  Herndon  and 
Dillon. 

But  about  eleven  o'clock  next  morning  my  kind  friend 
appeared,  in  great  excitement,  grasped  both  my  hands 
through  the  bars,  and  cried,  "  Bob,  my  dear  boy,  what 
have  the  rascals  done  to  you  ?  You  shan't  stop  here 
another  half-hour  !  Go  your  bail  ?  Of  course  I  will. 
I  reckon  I  would,  if  it  were  ten  times  as  much."  What 
an  immense  relief  his  cheery  presence  and  kindly  words 
were  can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  He  wouldn't 
stop  to  listen  to  my  heartfelt  thanks,  but  posted  off 
at  once  to  give  his  bond. 

The  formalities  were  quickly  completed,  the  lock 
was  turned,  and  I  stepped  forth  into  the  open  air  that 
lovely  summer  morning  a  free  and  happy  youth.  I 
found  quite  a  gathering  of  friends  and  acquaintances 
at  Alvis's,  who  warmly  congratulated  me  on  my  release  ; 
then,  with  many  handshakes,  Herndon  and  I  mounted 
our  horses  and  rode  out  to  his  place,  where  I  was  to 
spend  the  night,  he  explaining  by  the  way  that  the 
delay  in  his  coming  to  my  help  was  caused  by  his  absence 
from  home. 

Kind,  good  Mrs.  Herndon  and  all  her  family,  black 
and  white,  gave  me  quite  an  ovation,  and  treated  me 
more  like  a  hero  than  a  prisoner  out  on  bail. 

But  I  was  still  very  uneasy  about  my  future  ;  October 
would  soon  come  round,  when  I  should  have  to  stand 
my  trial,  and  what  should  I  do  ?  Mrs.  Burnett  was 
begging  me  not  to  give  up  the  notes  to  Paris,  which  she 
roundly  declared  were  not  his  property,  but  her  hus 
band's,  from  whom,  by  the  way,  I  had  heard  nothing  ; 
even  if  I  did  give  them  up,  in  spite  of  my  pledged  word, 

4 


50  A    DANCE    AND    A    FIGHT 

Paris  could  still  hold  me  to  my  bail  if  he  liked,  and  I 
felt  I  was  in  a  great  fix,  and  could  see  no  clear  way  out 
of  it.  Besides  all  this,  I  was  in  a  fever  of  unrest,  and 
wanted  to  get  away  to  that  unknown  land  of  promise, 
the  Far  West,  as  it  then  was,  and  which  was  drawing 
so  many  of  my  acquaintances,  like  a  loadstone. 

So,  in  despite  of  the  advice  of  a  very  clever  lawyer, 
Strauss  by  name,  who  lived  in  Taswell  Court  House, 
about  sixty  miles  from  Princeton,  and  who  wanted  me 
to  fight  Paris,  I  determined  to  compromise  the  matter 
with  him,  making  the  best  terms  I  could  for  Mrs.  Burnett. 
Therefore  on  my  return  to  Princeton,  I  talked  pretty 
big  of  what  I  would  do  with  Paris  by  the  help  of  Strauss, 
and  then  lay  low  for  the  next  move  of  the  enemy. 

In  two  days'  time  he  sent  his  confidential  clerk  to 
ask  me  to  meet  him,  and  then  I  felt  sure  of  victory. 

I  went  to  his  store,  and  to  cut  a ---long  story  short, 
eventually  settled  with  him  on  the  terms  that  I  was  to 
give  up  the  notes  on  payment  of  $400  ;  he  to  withdraw 
all  proceedings,  and  to  write  me  a  letter  stating  that 
he  had  no  cause  of  complaint  against  me.  Next  day 
I  rode  out  to  Rock  Settlement,  with  a  lighter  heart 
than  I  had  had  for  many  a  day,  and  handed  over  the 
$400  to  Mrs.  Burnett. 

About  this  time,  Wyoming  Court  House  was  to  be 
opened  as  the  seat  of  government  of  a  new  County, 
just  formed  on  the  Gyandotte  River.  Everybody  from 
Milam's  Ridge  was  going  to  the  function,  which  would 
be  a  great  gathering  of  the  neighbourhood  for  miles 
around.  So,  with  a  party  of  six  or  seven  friends,  I  rode 
the  fifty  miles  to  the  scene  of  the  festivities,  through 
forest  paths  of  the  wildest,  and  overshadowed  by  the 
finest  of  timber. 

About  three  miles  from  the  Court  House  we  came  to 
a  prosperous  clearing  and  farm,  with  fine  peach  and 
apple  orchards,  and  a  still  for  converting  the  produce 
of  them  into  brandy.  The  owner  was  known  to  some 


SAVED    BY    MY    PARTNER  51 

of  our  party,  and  we  agreed  to  return  in  the  evening 
and  put  up  for  the  night,  more  especially  as  there  was 
to  be  a  big  dance,  to  which  we  were  all  invited. 

The  new  Court  House  was  the  usual  small  cluster  of 
log  and  frame  houses,  and  I  remember  nothing  of  the 
opening  ceremonies  except  that  one  of  them  was  a  "  Magic 
Lantern  Show,"  which  was  regarded  as  quite  an  event  in 
those  wild  parts. 

Late  in  the  evening  we  rode  back  to  the  farm,  to 
find  quite  a  large  gathering,  most  of  the  folks  being 
strangers  to  us.  A  plentiful  supper  was  provided  for 
all  comers,  and  peach  and  apple  brandy  at  ten  cents 
the  half  pint  was  in  abundance.  In  the  yard  was  a 
blazing  fire,  round  which,  by  the  light  of  torches,  much 
card-playing  was  going  on,  and  some  heavy  gambling. 
Inside  the  house  dancing  was  in  full  swing  to  the  music 
of  a  fiddle,  and  I  soon  joined  in,  with  consequences  I  have 
cause  to  remember,  for  I  got  into  one  of  the  stiffest 
rough-and-tumble  fights  I  ever  was  in,  either  there  or 
anywhere  else. 

After  midnight  some  of  the  boys  began  to  get  noisy 
and  quarrelsome,  as  a  result  of  too  many  visits  to  the 
peach  brandy.  I  had  had  no  quarrel  with  any  one, 
and  was  dancing  a  cotillon  with  a  very  pretty  girl, 
when,  without  the  slightest  provocation,  a  young  fellow 
jumped  at  me,  struck  me  a  heavy  blow  in  the  face,  and 
bolted.  I  left  my  partner,  made  for  him,  and  caught 
him  before  he  could  get  out  of  the  room.  In  a  blazing 
rage,  I  went  for  him,  and  was  giving  him  the  sound 
thrashing  he  richly  deserved,  when  his  friends  piled 
on  me  and  beat  me  most  unmercifully. 

The  dancing  of  course  had  stopped  ;  the  girls  were 
screaming,  and  all  was  confusion  whilst  I  was  the  "  under 
dog  "  of  a  crowd,  each  of  whom  was  doing  his  best  to 
kill  me.  Probably  they  would  have  succeeded  had  it 
not  been  for  the  plucky  girl  who  had  been  my  partner. 
She  told  me  afterwards  that  she  had  tried  her  best  to 


52  A    DANCE    AND    A    FIGHT 

give  me  a  bowie  knife,  to  defend  myself  with,  but  failing 
to  get  near  me,  had  run  out  to  my  friends,  who  were 
card-playing.  They  came  promptly  to  the  rescue,  and 
after  a  free  fight  cleared  the  room  and  saved  my  life, 
though  at  the  time  I  was  quite  unconscious  of  their 
help. 

When  I  came  to  myself  next  day,  I  found  I  had  a 
fearful  gash  on  the  back  of  my  head,  caused  by  a  crashing 
blow  with  a  full  bottle  of  whiskey,  which  had  stunned 
me,  and  that  my  left  eye  had  been  cruelly  "  gouged." 
I  was  in  a  pretty  bad  plight,  and  at  first  thought  I  had 
lost  the  sight  of  the  eye,  but  a  week's  kind  nursing  by 
my  friends  at  the  farm  set  me  up  enough  to  enable  me 
to  ride  back  to  the  Bluestone,  which  I  did  all  by  myself, 
filled  with  many  thoughts  as  to  the  experience  I  had 
gained  and  a  not  very  exalted  opinion  of  the  chivalry 
of  the  youth  of  Virginia. 

Having  done  so  well  with  my  horse  trade,  I  next 
undertook  to  drive  a  herd  of  cattle  into  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  to  sell  in  the  towns  and  on  the  tobacco  planta 
tions,  in  partnership  with  Ephraim  Bailey. 

I  had  about  one  hundred  head  running  at  Milam's 
Ridge,  and  Bailey  had  about  fifty.  So  with  this  herd 
of  150  head  we  set  out,  I  taking  Reuben  Bailey  and  his 
two  boys  to  help  me  drive.  The  cattle  were  wild  as 
hawks,  and  though  Reuben  and  his  youngsters  were  as 
tough  and  active  as  Indians,  whom  in  their  buckskin 
hunting-shirts  and  mocassins  they  much  resembled,  it 
was  an  awful  job  to  get  them  along  at  first.  However, 
we  did  contrive  to  drive  them  somehow  through  Giles, 
Munro,  and  Roanoke  Counties,  crossing  the  Roanoke 
River  by  the  natural  bridge  of  Virginia,  a  stupendous 
work  of  Nature  herself.  Descending  into  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  where  the  people  were  mostly  well-to-do  de 
scendants  of  the  Pennsylvanian  Dutch,  and  where  there 
were  plenty  of  good  grazing  farms,  we  soon  disposed  of 
the  greater  number  of  our  stock  at  good  prices. 


A    VIRGINIAN    MANSION  53 

By  the  time  we  reached  Culpepper  Court  House, 
famous  afterwards  in  the  Great  War  time,  Bailey  had 
sold  his  fifty  head,  and  I  had  twenty-five  loft.  These 
I  was  lucky  enough  to  sell  in  one  lot  to  a  young  fellow 
named  Fletcher,  who  owned  a  fine  plantation  and 
worked  it  with  about  fifty  negroes. 

Fletcher  said  he  could  not  pay  me  till  he  received  a 
draft  from  Baltimore  in  about  a  fortnight,  and  in  the 
meantime  invited  me  to  stay  with  him  at  his  place. 
I  accepted  his  very  cordial  invitation,  and  having  paid 
off  Reuben  and  his  boys  and  said  good-bye  to  Ephraim, 
rode  out  to  the  plantation  with  my  host.  His  house 
was  quite  a  fine  one,  and  after  my  West  Virginian  ex 
periences,  seemed  a  mansion  indeed.  Built  in  the  old 
Colonial  days  of  red  brick,  mellowed  in  colour  by  the 
hundred  years  of  its  existence,  it  looked  more  like  an 
English  country  house  than  anything  I  had  seen  on  the 
other  side,  though  of  course  it  lacked  the  beautiful 
gardens  and  trim  lawns  which  are  so  rarely  seen  out  of 
the  Old  Country. 

Fletcher,  who  was  a  bachelor,  lived  with  his  overseer, 
in  much  comfort  and  some  state.  He  had  plenty  of 
horses,  both  saddle  and  harness,  and  quite  a  retinue 
of  servants,  all  niggers  of  course. 

The  shooting  in  the  neighbourhood  was  very  good, 
partridges  and  pheasants  being  plentiful,  and  my  stay 
with  him  was  most  enjoyable  ;  for  everything  was  placed 
at  my  disposal,  horses,  buggies,  guns,  etc.,  and  I  was 
made  to  feel  perfectly  at  home.  Fletcher,  who  was  a 
most  pleasant,  hospitable  man,  was  also  a  keen  sportsman, 
and  very  fond  of  what  he  called  "  gunning,"  so  we  had 
many  a  good  shoot  together.  After  three  weeks  of  this 
pleasant  life,  the  draft  from  Baltimore  arrived,  and  I 
said  good-bye  to  my  friend  and  started,  with  my  horse 
well  rested,  for  my  250-mile  ride  back  to  the  Bluestone. 

Nothing  worth  recording  happened  on  the  ride  except 
that  at  Lynchburg,  where  I  put  up  for  Sunday,  I  was 


54  A    DANCE    AND    A    FIGHT 

present  at  a  great  Baptist  christening  on  the  banks  of 
the  James  River.  About  a  dozen  grown  men  and  women 
were  plunged  beneath  the  icy  water  by  three  preachers, 
who  stood  waist-deep  in  it  to  receive  their  converts.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  they  were  benefited  by  the  ceremony, 
for  I  remember  that  all  the  party,  preachers  and  converts 
alike,  looked  desperately  cold  and  miserable. 

I  reached  home  at  last  well  satisfied  with  my  venture, 
and  with  a  well-filled  pocket-book  and  cash-belt,  the 
proceeds  of  my  cattle  trades. 

Now  I  hastened  my  preparations  for  the  Western 
migration  to  Kansas,  the  land  that  seemed  so  fair  and 
full  of  promise,  but  which  was  so  soon  to  be  the  theatre 
of  partisan  strife  and  of  the  cruel,  bitter  struggle  between 
North  and  South  that  formed  the  prelude  to  the  great 
War  of  Secession.  My  days  in  Western  Virginia  were 
numbered,  and  I  was  very  shortly  to  bid  farewell  to 
many  kind  friends,  and  to  a  simple,  easy-going  life  in 
those  woodland  regions,  which  I  suppose  the  march  of 
civilisation,  moving  so  rapidly  as  it  does  in  the  States, 
has  long  since  stamped  out. 

Before  I  leave  the  Virginian  life,  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  describe  the  various  kinds  of  shooting  and  hunting 
we  so  much  enjoyed. 

Deer,  bears,  coons,  squirrels,  partridges  so  called 
(really  tree-grouse),  and  pheasants  abounded  in  the 
woods,  whilst,  in  a  good  "  mast  "  year,  pigeons  came 
in  countless  thousands,  and  were  slaughtered  in  their 
"  roosts  "  by  every  one  who  possessed  a  "  scatter  gun." 

Deer  were  killed  in  three  ways  : 

(1)  At  the  "licks"  by  torch  light;  (2)  by  "still" 
hunting  ;  and  (3)  by  driving  with  hounds,  kept  specially 
for  the  purpose,  and  allowed  to  run  no  other  game. 

The  two  first  methods  I  have  described,  but  the  third, 
or  driving,  was  by  far  the  most  exciting.  Four  or  five 
of  us  would  go  out  by  daybreak  with,  say,  three  couples 
of  hounds,  which  were  hunted  by  one  of  the  party  on 


DEER-DRIVING  55 

horseback.  The  rest  of  us  would  take  post  on  the  river 
at  "  stands,"  where  the  deer- trails  showed  the  quarry 
would  probably  "  soil."  The  huntsman  and  his  little 
pack  would  make  a  wide  circuit,  perhaps  for  miles, 
through  the  heavily  timbered  ridges,  whilst  we  waited 
with  what  patience  we  might  at  our  "  stands." 

Then  would  be  heard  the  distant  music  of  the  hounds 
as  they  hit  a  line.  Nearer  and  nearer  it  would  come, 
and  all  were  frantic  with  excitement,  each  one  hoping  he 
would  have  the  chance  of  a  shot,  which  only  one  could  get. 

How  well  I  remember  the  first  buck  I  got  in  this  way  ! 
The  deep  notes  of  the  hounds,  now  nearer,  now  far  away, 
as  they  drove  the  deer  in  fine  style  through  the  forest, 
ring  in  my  ears  now.  Close  down  to  my  hiding-place 
they  come  in  full  cry  ;  I  raise  my  gun,  well  loaded  with 
buckshot,  and,  as  the  deer  with  a  bound  plunges  into 
the  stream,  I  pull  the  trigger  and  miss  him  clean  with 
the  first  barrel,  for  "  buck-ague  "  is  strong  upon  me. 
Across  the  river  he  swims  at  a  great  pace,  for  now  the 
leading  hound  appears  on  the  bank  behind  him.  As  he 
scrambles  and  staggers  up  the  steep  side,  I  steady  myself 
and  let  drive.  Back  into  the  water  he  falls  dead, 
shot  just  behind  the  shoulder,  and  before  I  can  realise 
my  happiness  and  good  fortune  the  hounds  are  upon 
him,  and  I  have  to  beat  them  off  as  best  I  can  till  the 
huntsman  comes  up  to  help,  and  to  congratulate  me  on 
my  luck.  It  was  rare  sport  notwithstanding  the  some 
times  weary  waiting,  and  we  would  often  get  two  or 
three  deer  in  a  day.  Bears  were  always  hunted  with 
dogs  trained  for  the  sport,  and  they  soon  got  very  clever 
at  it.  Their  part  was  to  drive  the  bear  out  of  the  thick 
"  ivy  brakes  "  along  the  river-bottoms,  and  when  they 
had  got  him  out  on  to  the  ridges,  to  stick  close  to  him 
but  keeping  well  out  of  the  reach  of  his  clutches.  Sooner 
or  later  the  bear  was  bound  to  "set  up  "  against  a 
tree  or  rock  if  the  hounds  stuck  close  to  his  hams,  and 
then  came  the  hunter's  chance. 


56  A    DANCE    AND    A    FIGHT 

It  was  rarely  that  a  man  got  mauled  by  a  bear,  but  I 
remember  one  rather  curious  instance. 

About  half-way  between  the  Bluestone  and  Milam's 
Ridge,  two  brothers  named  Mills  had  a  log  shanty  and 
made  a  living  by  hunting,  "  bee  shining,"  and  feeding 
hogs  on  the  "mast"  in  the  woods.  When  I  arrived 
at  the  cabin  one  day,  on  my  journey  to  the  ridge,  I 
found  one  of  the  brothers  with  an  arm  badly  broken, 
and  clawed  by  a  bear.  They  said  that  the  previous 
night,  which  was  pretty  dark,  they  had  been  aroused 
by  a  terrible  squealing  amongst  their  hogs,  in  the  pen 
close  by.  One  brother  ran  out  with  only  a  butcher's 
knife  in  his  hand,  the  other  stopped  to  load  his  rifle. 
The  first  jumped  over  into  the  pen,  and  in  the  dim  light 
saw  a  bear  with  a  hog  in  his  clutch. 

He  went  at  the  bear  with  his  knife  to  save  his  hog, 
and  was  at  once  seized  by  the  left  arm,  but  made  a  plucky 
fight  for  it,  and  cut  the  bear  badly.  Meantime  the  other 
brother  came  on  the  scene  with  his  rifle,  and  as  soon 
as  he  could  distinguish  which  was  which,  no  easy  matter 
in  a  rough-and-tumble  like  that,  put  a  bullet  through  the 
bear's  head. 

I  once  spent  three  days  bear-hunting  with  a  Colonel 
George  of  Tassel  County,  an  ex-Congress  man  and  large 
slave-owner.  He  took  several  niggers  with  him,  and 
wagons  and  horses,  and  made  a  regular  camp  for  a 
week's  hunting  on  the  Gyandotte  River. 

The  first  day,  starting  out  at  daybreak,  his  three 
couples  of  hounds  soon  found  in  the  ivy  brakes,  and 
quickly  drove  their  bear  out  on  to  the  ridges.  Of  course, 
we  were  on  foot,  as  the  country  was  too  rough  for  riding. 
What  a  dance  that  bear  led  us  !  Up  hill  and  down  dale, 
over  rocks  and  through  thick  brush  ;  sometimes  half  a 
mile  ahead  of  us,  at  others  so  far  away  we  could  scarce 
hear  the  baying  of  the  hounds. 

At  last,  when  I  really  thought  I  could  run  no  farther, 
they  held  him  up  against  a  great  tree-trunk.  He  stood 


PASSENGER    PIGEONS  57 

on  his  hind  legs,  the  hounds  baying  round  him  in  a  circle, 
whilst  every  now  and  then  he  would  try  to  catch  one  in 
his  hug.  The  Colonel  and  I  fired  together,  and  the  bear, 
a  fine  old  "he,"  fell  dead.  We  were  seven  miles  from 
camp,  so  the  niggers  only  took  the  skin  and  the  hams. 

We  killed  two  more  bears,  one  each  day,  much  after 
the  same  fashion,  and  then  I  said  good-bye  to  the  Colonel, 
and  left  him  to  finish  his  week's  hunting,  as  I  was  obliged 
to  get  back  to  the  farm. 

The  tree-grouse,  or  "  partridges,"  as  the  Virginians 
called  them,  gave  little  sport.  They  are  dwellers  of  the 
woodlands,  and,  when  put  up,  invariably  "  tree."  The 
"  partridge  dog  "  is  trained  to  work  ahead  of  his  master, 
and,  when  he  has  treed  his  game,  to  stand  and  bark  till 
he  comes  up.  The  birds  are  so  stupid  that  they  take 
no  notice  of  the  dog,  and  but  little  of  the  man  ;  so  that 
one  may  often  shoot  a  couple  of  brace  out  of  the  tree 
before  the  rest  of  the  covey  fly  away. 

Of  ducks  there  was  an  immense  variety  in  the  winter 
season,  and  good  sport  could  be  had  with  them  along  the 
river-bottoms. 

Passenger  pigeons,  or,  as  we  called  them,  "  wild 
pigeons,"  were  at  times  so  numerous  that  one  is  almost 
afraid  to  estimate  their  numbers,  lest  it  should  be  thought 
a  "  yarn  "  :  but  indeed  they  would  congregate  in  a 
favourite  "  roost  "  till  the  smaller  saplings  would  break 
with  their  weight. 

I  well  remember  in  the  autumn  of  1853  that  immense 
flocks  were  seen  passing  over  my  farm.  George  Dillon 
located  their  roost,  on  Brush  Creek,  about  ten  miles 
away,  and  four  or  five  of  us  took  all  the  "  scatter  guns  " 
we  could  collect  and  went  out  to  shoot  for  the  pot. 

We  camped  about  half  a  mile  away  from  the  roost,  and 
as  twilight  came  on  the  pigeons  flew  in,  till  the  smaller 
trees  and  brush  literally  bent  under  their  weight.  As 
night  fell  we  lighted  our  torches,  and  then  the  slaughter 
began.  No  other  word  can  describe  it,  for  it  was  butchery 


58  A    DANCE    AND    A    FIGHT 

pure  and  simple,  and  our  only  excuse  was  that  we  wanted 
the  meat.  By  midnight  we  had  killed  enough  to  fill 
the  body  of  my  light  wagon  ;  we  might  easily  have 
filled  two  such.  When  we  got  back  we  divided  the  bag, 
and  everybody  in  the  settlement  lived  on  pigeons  for 
many  days. 

Turkeys  were  fairly  plentiful,  but  were  rarely  shot. 
They  were  taken  in  a  rather  ingenious  fashion.  When 
snow  lay  deep,  and  turkey  signs  were  seen,  a  pen  was 
made  about  ten  feet  square  and  covered  with  brush.  A 
good  long  trench  was  dug  leading  into  this,  under  the 
bottom  log,  and  corn  laid  in  it,  and  scattered  round. 

The  turkeys  would  follow  the  corn  into  the  pen,  and, 
once  in,  had  not  the  sense  to  get  out.  We  sometimes 
caught  as  many  as  a  dozen  at  a  time. 


CHAPTER    VII 

ON    THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

IT  was  the  end  of  November,  in  the  year  1854,  before 
I  could  settle  up  my  affairs  and  make  a  start,  impatient 
as  I  was  to  be  on  the  road  to  my  land  of  promise.  Even 
then  my  friend  Herndon,  to  whom  I  had  sold  my  farm 
and  mill,  was  not  ready  with  my  cash.  So  to  make 
things  easier  for  him  and  avoid  delay,  I  agreed  to  take 
three  young  niggers — Ann,  a  girl  of  about  sixteen,  and 
her  two  young  brothers,  Shad  and  Pete,  fourteen  and 
twelve  years  old — in  part  payment. 

One  crisp  November  morning  then,  with  my  not  very 
extensive  baggage  packed  in  Squire  Eli  Bailey's  wagon, 
or  "  carry  all,"  I  mounted  my  horse,  and  with  Manor 
by  my  side  started  on  my  long  journey  Westward.  But 
just  as  we  got  under  weigh,  we  heard  Reuben  Bailey's 
deer-hounds  in  full  cry  across  the  creek.  This  was  more 
than  Manor  could  stand,  and  he  bolted  off  to  join  the 
sport,  turning  the  deer,  so  that  the  hounds,  who  were 
close  on  his  heels,  pulled  him  down  before  our  very  eyes. 
That  was  the  last  Virginian  buck  I  saw  killed. 

I  found  my  friend  Herndon  waiting  for  me  at  Princeton 
with  the  three  young  niggers,  for  each  of  whom  he  gave 
me  a  bill  of  sale  at  the  County  Clerk's  office.  So  I  be 
came,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  that  most  wicked, 
cruel  monster,  a  slave-owner  ! 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  those  whose  ideas  of  slaves, 
and  slave-owners,  have  been  formed  by  "  Abolition " 
literature,  my  young  darkies  went  with  me  cheerfully 

59 


60  ON   THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

and  willingly,  and  were  quite  as  much  excited  at  the  pros 
pect  of  the  new  life  in  the  West  as  I  was  myself.  What 
their  ideas  on  the  subject  were,  or  what  they  expected 
to  find  when  they  reached  the  goal,  I  know  not ;  indeed  I 
hardly  know  what  my  own  ideas  were.  A  complete 
change  from  the  past,  and  new  conditions  of  life,  we  all 
looked  forward  to,  I  suppose. 

New  and  strange  enough  conditions  I  certainly  did 
find  at  my  journey's  end,  and  not  altogether  pleasant 
ones.  Had  I  known  what  a  seething  cauldron  of  evil 
passions  and  bitter  political  strife  awraited  me  in  Kansas, 
probably  I  should  have  turned  my  steps  elsewhere. 
However,  we  heard  but  little  of  the  outside  world  and 
its  doings  in  remote  Western  Virginia,  and  little  guessed 
that  the  storm,  which  would  almost  rend  the  Republic 
in  twain,  was  even  then  brewing,  and  that  I  was  inno 
cently  and  unconsciously  going  to  walk  into  the  midst 
of  its  uprising. 

At  Princeton  I  said  good-bye  to  many  kind  friends 
who  had  made  the  young  stranger's  life  so  pleasant  to 
him,  and  with  a  "  carry  all  "  to  convey  my  chattels,  set 
off  on  a  fifty-mile  ride  to  the  nearest  station  on  the 
railway  to  Richmond,  the  name  of  which  I  forget.  My 
great  friend  George  Dillon  went  with  me  to  the  station, 
to  bring  the  conveyance  back.  There  we  parted,  and  I 
have  never  seen  or  heard  of  him  since,  but  he  lives  in 
my  memory  still  as  the  staunchest  friend,  finest  back 
woodsman,  and  keenest  sportsman  I  have  ever  met. 

Arrived  at  Lynchburg,  where  we  had  to  change  for 
Richmond,  I  left  my  baggage  at  the  station  and  took  my 
darkies  and  Manor  to  Seth  Woodruff,  to  whom  I  had  a 
letter  of  introduction,  and  who,  besides  being  the  largest 
nigger  dealer  in  the  State,  kept  a  barrack,  where  such 
chattels  were  taken  care  of  for  their  owners. 

His  calling  notwithstanding,  he  seemed  a  very  pleasant, 
good  sort  of  fellow,  and  was  highly  respected  in  the  town. 
I  spent  the  evening  with  him,  and  he  tried  very  hard  to 


SUSPICIOUS    SOUTHERNERS  61 

buy  my  niggers,  offering  me  a  price  that  would  have  paid 
me  well.  But  that  meant  their  being  separated,  most 
probably,  and  possibly  getting  into  bad  hands.  I  couldn't 
harden  my  heart  to  that,  so  refused,  and  to  their  huge 
delight  took  them  along  with  me  to  the  unknown  West. 

In  those  days  there  were  only  two  classes  of  tickets 
on  the  railways,  first  for  whites,  and  second  for  niggers 
and  dogs  !  I  therefore  took  one  first  and  four  second 
class  tickets  for  Richmond.  On  the  journey  my  little 
party  and  myself  were  regarded  with  a  good  deal  of 
curiosity,  and  some  little  suspicion.  I  was  manifestly 
a  "  Britisher,"  and  very  young.  What  was  I  doing  with 
three  young  niggers,  and  where  was  I  taking  them  ? 

Anything  touching  a  nigger  was  keenly  interesting  to 
the  Southerners,  who  were  suspicious  of  strangers  who 
meddled  with  them.  Runaways  were  not  uncommon, 
and  possibly  they  thought  I  was  engaged  on  what  was 
called  the  "  underground  business."  When,  however,  I 
produced  my  papers  they  were  satisfied,  and  became 
friendly  enough. 

At  Richmond  I  boarded  my  young  folks  at  the  hotel 
with  the  kitchen  niggers,  and  in  the  evening  gave  them 
a  permit,  countersigned  by  the  landlord,  together  with 
the  price  of  tickets  for  the  niggers'  gallery  at  the  theatre, 
which  was  an  amazing  event  in  their  lives. 

Before  I  could  get  tickets  for  Pittsburg  in  Pennsylvania, 
which  was  a  Free  State,  official  sanction  had  to  be  given, 
and  proof  produced  from  some  undoubted  authority  that 
the  applicant  had  proper  legal  title  to  his  black  property. 
In  this  fix  I  bethought  me  of  Napoleon  French,  member 
of  the  State  Legislature  for  Mercer  County,  who  was  well 
known  to  me.  The  House  was  in  session,  and  directly  I 
sent  in  my  name  by  a  liveried  usher  I  was  at  once  shown 
into  the  Legislative  Hall.  It  was  a  handsome,  nearly 
circular  room  ;  desks  piled  up  with  stationery  and  books, 
before  each  member,  filled  the  outer  circumference. 
The  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  members  appeared 


62  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

well  cared  for,  for  there  were  at  least  fifty  page  boys  in 
attendance  to  look  after  their  wants. 

French  at  once  gave  the  certificate  I  wanted  and  I 
bade  him  good-bye,  little  thinking  that  in  a  few  years' 
time  that  hall  would  be  the  theatre  of  such  momentous 
decisions  and  epoch-making  laws  as  were  enacted  there 
in  Secession  times. 

Armed  with  French's  certificate  I  took  tickets  to  Pitts- 
burg  for  myself  and  "  chattels,"  and  thence  went  to 
Cincinnati  by  steamboat.  There  I  took  ferry  and  crossed 
the  Ohio  River  to  Covington  in  Kentucky,  which  was  a 
Slave  State,  in  which  my  property  would  be  safer  than  in 
the  former  town,  which  is  in  Ohio,  a  Free  State. 

Cincinnati  was  then  considered  the  metropolis  of  the 
West,  and  even  in  those  days  was  a  large  and  thriving 
city,  the  centre  of  the  pork  trade.  The  river-banks  were 
thronged  with  steamboats  and  the  streets  with  eager, 
busy  folks,  the  half  of  whom  seemed  to  be  Germans. 

The  weather  had  now  set  in  very  cold,  and  great 
masses  of  ice  were  coming  down  the  river.  The  river  men 
prophesied  that  navigation  would  be  stopped  before  we 
could  reach  St.  Louis,  my  next  point,  but  I  had  to  push 
on  and  risk  it.  So  next  morning  we  ferried  over  the 
Ohio  again,  and  took  boat  for  St.  Louis. 

It  was  a  terribly  hard  frost,  and  when  we  got  out 
into  the  mighty  Mississippi,  the  ice  was  coming  down 
the  swift-running  stream  in  huge  blocks,  so  that  every 
hour  navigation  grew  more  difficult.  Slowly  our  ancient 
stern-wheeler  pushed  her  way  through  the  heavy  ice, 
and  when  at  last  we  reached  St.  Genevieve  about  night 
fall,  the  captain  tied  her  up  for  the  night,  to  see  how 
things  looked  in  the  morning. 

The  morning  brought  us  little  hope,  for  the  frost  was 
harder  than  ever,  and  it  was  clear  that  if  it  lasted  a  day 
or  two  longer  the  river  would  be  completely  frozen  over. 
Anxiously  we  all  awaited  the  captain's  decision,  and 
when,  after  breakfast,  he  made  the  announcement  that 


WHERE    IS    MANOR?  63 

the  old  crawler  could  not  move,  and  might  have  to  be 
tied  up  all  winter,  were  heartily  disappointed.  We 
asked  for  a  return  of  a  fair  proportion  of  our  passage 
money,  but  were  told  that  was  out  of  the  question, 
though  we  might  remain  on  board  till  the  voyage  was 
completed. 

It  was  hardly  good  enough,  so  four  or  five  of  us  agreed 
to  hire  the  conveyance  of  our  baggage  to  St.  Louis  on 
a  wagon  which  belonged  to  an  old  fellow  on  board  who 
was  emigrating  from  Ohio  to  the  great  West.  The 
patriarch  had  quite  a  large  family,  and  what  with  his 
wife  and  children,  my  nigger  girl  Ann,  and  all  our 
baggage,  his  poor  horses  had  a  pretty  good  load. 

The  wagon  was  landed,  and  the  party  ready  to  start, 
all  but  myself,  and  I  was  frantically  searching  for  my 
friend  and  companion,  the  dog  Manor.  My  boys  and 
all  my  acquaintances  helped  in  the  quest,  but  in  vain  ; 
nowhere  could  he  be  found  ?  Finally  I  had  to  leave 
without  him,  after  adjuring  the  captain,  who  expected 
to  lay  there  at  least  a  month,  to  look  out  for  him 
and  write  me  any  tidings  he  might  get  to  the  P.O., 
St.  Louis. 

On  board  the  steamer  was  a  party  of  itinerant  gym 
nasts  who  had  made  a  great  pet  of  my  dog,  and  they  too 
promised  to  look  for  him  and  bring  him  on  to  St.  Louis, 
which  was  their  destination,  if  they  were  lucky  enough 
to  find  him.  I  little  thought  the  rascals  had  stolen  and 
hidden  away  my  pet,  but  so  it  turned  out  to  be. 

About  midday  we  got  off  on  our  long  and  toilsome 
journey,  and  a  curious  party  we  were  !  There  was  the 
rough  old  Ohian  who  owned  the  wagon,  with  his  wife 
and  numerous  progeny  ;  a  Californian,  a  scene-painter 
by  calling  ;  two  young  actors  going  to  play  at  St.  Louis  ; 
a  young  Kentuckian  emigrant  who  had  his  horse  with 
him,  which,  as  we  had  made  great  friends,  he  insisted  I 
should  ride  in  tie  with  him  ;  and  lastly,  myself  and  my 
three  young  niggers. 


64  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

Though  modesty  would  prompt  me  not  to  mention  it, 
yet,  as  an  illustration  of  ways  of  thought  and  social 
customs,  I  must  explain  that  as  an  owner  of  niggers  I 
was  looked  up  to  as  the  aristocrat  of  the  party.  I  might 
have  been  as  ragged  and  unkempt  as  a  tramp,  and  with 
out  a  dollar  in  my  pocket,  yet  the  fact  of  possessing 
niggers  would  have  raised  me  to  at  least  the  fringe  of 
aristocracy.  So  it  was  throughout  the  South  in  those 
days. 

The  cold  was  intense,  and  the  road,  if  road  it  might 
properly  be  called,  of  the  roughest,  so  much  so  that  we 
all  had  to  keep  alongside  the  wagon  to  push  it  up  the 
slippery  slopes.  Every  creek  was  frozen,  but  sometimes 
not  hard  enough  to  bear  the  heavy  wagon.  Then  the 
ice  had  to  be  broken,  with  infinite  labour,  and  the  wagon 
got  over  somehow.  Under  these  conditions  we  managed 
to  travel  about  fifteen  miles  a  day,  halting  for  the  night 
at  some  farm  or  other  where  we  could  get  shelter. 

Rough  as  the  journey  was,  we  all  enjoyed  it,  and  were 
as  happy  as  youth,  high  hopes,  good  spirits,  the  bright 
sky,  and  clear  frosty  air  could  make  us.  Generally  our 
lodgings  were  of  the  roughest,  but  one  night  we  halted 
(it  was  Christmas  Eve)  at  the  farm  of  a  French  Missourian, 
who  entertained  the  whole  party  most  hospitably  and 
got  up  an  impromptu  dance  for  our  benefit,  which  was 
kept  up  till  a  very  late  hour. 

Though  I  have  long  since  forgotten  my  host's  name, 
I  still  remember  the  courtesy  of  the  polite  Frenchman 
as  a  most  pleasing  contrast  to  the  kindly,  but  rough 
manners  of  the  native  Americans. 

Arrived  at  St.  Louis,  I  put  up  at  a  large  boarding-house, 
lodging  my  darkies  in  the  kitchen  with  the  other  niggers, 
and  presently,  finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  on 
to  Kansas,  either  by  river  or  road,  hired  them  out  in  the 
city  for  $12  a  week.  I  kept  an  eye  on  them,  and  saw 
they  were  well  treated  and  not  overworked. 

My  landlord's  brother  was  somewhat  of  a  power  in 


15°  BELOW  ZERO  65 

the  city,  being  Market  Master.  To  him  I  told  the  sad 
loss  of  my  dog,  and  he  promised  that  he  would  have  a 
good  look-out  kept,  and  felt  confident  he  would  get  him, 
if  he  were  brought  into  the  city.  He  was  as  good  as  his 
word,  though  it  was  nearly  a  month  before  he  discovered 
Manor  for  me. 

I  was  walking  one  day  in  the  market  when  I  saw  the 
Master  ahead  of  me,  followed  by  a  dog.  It  was  Manor 
sure  enough,  and  the  moment  he  saw  me  he  left  his 
friend  and  jumped  about  'me,  and  on  me,  in  frantic 
excitement,  and  we  were  mutually  overjoyed  to  meet 
again. 

The  Master  had  seen  him  on  the  stage  of  a  "  side 
show,"  performing  tricks,  at  which  he  was  very  expert. 
My  friend  went  behind  the  scenes,  handed  his  card  to 
the  manager,  and  demanded  the  immediate  delivery  to 
him  of  the  setter  he  had  got,  and  which  he  had  stolen 
from  a  friend  of  his  at  St.  Genevieve.  Of  course,  the 
man  protested  that  he  had  not  stolen  the  dog,  only 
found  him  wandering  about  without  his  master,  whose 
whereabouts  he  did  not  know.  Anyhow  he  promptly 
handed  over  the  dog,  under  threat  of  a  prosecution. 

Harder  and  harder  grew  the  frost,  till  the  proverbial 
"  oldest  inhabitant  "  declared  such  had  never  been  known 
before  in  his  experience,  and  a  few  days  after  our  arrival 
the  Mississippi  was  frozen  so  solidly  that  a  constant 
traffic  of  heavy  wagons  and  vehicles  of  all  sorts  was 
kept  up  over  the  ice,  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Illinois 
side.  Walking  along  the  "  Levee  "  it  was  a  wonderful 
sight  to  look  upon  the  lines  of  steamboats  all  frozen  in, 
literally  miles  of  them,  and  one  could  but  wonder  what 
would  happen  when  the  ice  broke  up  and  came  down 
the  mighty  river  with  its  irresistible  force. 

When  the  temperature  had  fallen  to  15°  below  zero 
Fahrenheit,  my  landlord's  wife  died,  and  a  numerous 
concourse  of  people,  of  whom  I  was  one,  attended  the 
funeral ;  but  the  frost  was  so  intense  that  no  grave  could 


66  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

be  dug,  so  the  remains  were  deposited  in  the  mortuary 
chapel  of  the  cemetery. 

It  was  weary  work  waiting  in  St.  Louis,  frost-bound, 
without  the  possibility  of  moving  on,  and  though  there 
were  plenty  of  amusements  in  the  city,  such  as  theatres 
and  card  and  dancing  parties,  the  time  hung  very  heavily 
on  my  hands. 

After  a  time  I  left  the  boarding-house  and  took  up  my 
abode  with  my  Kentucky  friend  at  a  hotel  in  the  suburbs, 
to  which  was  attached  a  large  livery  stable  with  standing 
for  perhaps  two  hundred  horses,  or  more.  Much  card- 
playing  went  on  there,  euchre,  poker,  and  seven-up 
being  the  games.  I  played  pretty  often  myself,  for  lack 
of  something  else  to  do,  and  I  don't  think  lost,  but 
rather  the  contrary.  At  this  place  I  met  some  curious 
characters  and  some  rather  risky  ones,  and  perhaps  I 
may  mention  one  or  two  incidents  connected  with 
them. 

A  "  Colonel  "  Watson  appeared  one  day,  with  a  drove 
of  four  hundred  fine  mules,  going  South  for  a  market. 
With  him  he  had  a  number  of  his  own  niggers.  He  was 
a  pleasant  enough  old  fellow,  but  his  chief  characteristic 
was  his  ability  to  "  punish  "  unlimited  quantities  of 
whiskey. 

Seated  with  him  one  day  in  the  harness-room  of  the 
stable,  to  us  appeared  a  city  constable  with  one  of  the 
"  Colonel's  "  niggers  in  charge,  whom  he  had  found, 
without  a  permit,  on  the  ice  near  the  Illinois  shore. 
Now  the  capture  of  a  runaway  nigger  meant  $50  to 
the  constable,  which  the  owner  had  to  pay.  The  Colonel 
was  furious  at  the  prospect  of  having  to  pay  up  this 
sum,  and  went  for  the  unfortunate  nigger  to  flog  him 
with  a  chain  he  happened  to  have  in  his  hand.  I  stepped 
between  them,  to  save  the  poor  wretch,  who  protested 
his  innocence,  and  declared  he  was  only  taking  a  walk 
on  the  ice,  and  had  at  once  given  the  constable  his  master's 
name  and  address.  Finding  he  couldn't  get  at  the 


THE     'TURKEY   COLONEL"  67 

nigger,  the  "  Colonel  "  cooled  down  at  last,  and  listened 
to  reason,  but  he  had  to  pay  those  $50. 

If  he  had  not  been  checked  when  he  was  so  "  mad," 
he  might  have  half  killed  the  poor  darkey,  and  nothing 
would  have  been  thought  of  it. 

Another  guest  at  our  hotel  was  a  "  Colonel  "  Howard, 
whose  title  seemed  to  be  derived  from  his  commanding 
a  drove  of  many  hundreds  of  turkeys.  It  was  his  annual 
custom  to  collect  these  in  Missouri  and  drive  them 
through  St.  Louis  on  his  way  to  the  Southern  markets. 
Just  before  the  frost  set  in,  he  had  arrived  with  a 
drove  of  quite  a  thousand,  which  he  had  driven 
250  miles.  The  severe  weather  caused  heavy  mortality 
amongst  his  stock,  but  the  old  boy,  who  was  a  planter 
in  a  large  way  and  a  well-to-do  man,  with  plenty  of 
niggers,  bore  it  philosophically,  consoling  himself  with 
the  thought  that  prices  would  go  up. 

The  "  Colonel  "  and  I  became  quite  friendly,  and  often 
went  to  the  theatre  together.  The  Batemans  were 
running  it,  and  I  had  the  entree  to  the  pit  through  my 
acquaintance  with  the  Californian  scene-painter. 

The  last  incident  I  will  recall  is  rather  a  gruesome  one, 
and  might  have  had  most  serious  consequences  for  myself. 

One  afternoon,  when  a  terrible  blizzard  was  blowing 
with  heavy  snow,  two  men  came  into  the  hotel,  and, 
taking  off  their  heavy  military  cloaks,  made  themselves 
comfortable  in  the  public  room  where  a  lot  of  us  were 
seated.  One  was  a  remarkably  fine-looking  man,  of 
good  address  ;  the  other  seemed  of  lower  stamp,  and 
evidently  looked  up  to  the  first  a  good  deal.  Their 
account  of  themselves  was  that  they  had  been  buffalo- 
hunting,  out  beyond  Fort  Leavenworth  in  Kansas, 
where  they  had  been  very  successful.  They  had  ridden 
in  to  St.  Louis  through  this  awful  weather,  and  had 
had,  as  we  might  guess,  a  terrible  journey. 

The  leader  said  he  came  from  Baltimore,  and  the  other 
from  Georgia.  Both  seemed  flush  of  money,  and  the 


68  ON    THE    ROAD   TO    KANSAS 

Marylander,  I  noticed,  wore  a  handsome  gold  watch  and 
chain  ;  his  name,  he  said,  was  Henry  McNutt ;  the 
other's  William  Johnson. 

I  took  quite  a  liking  to  McNutt,  he  seemed  such  a 
cheery,  pleasant  fellow.  After  having  inspected  their 
horses,  of  which  they  had  three  very  fine  ones,  we  grew 
quite  friendly,  and  agreed  to  sup  together  and  then  spend 
the  evening  at  the  theatre,  Mr.  McNutt  insisting  on 
paying  for  the  tickets.  After  the  play  we  strolled 
about  the  city  together,  visiting  various  "  side  shows  " 
and  saloons,  in  one  of  which  latter,  towards  the  early 
hours  of  the  morning,  my  friends  kicked  up  a  terrible  row, 
and  tried  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  me  when  I  interfered 
to  stop  the  fight. 

Either  because  they  knew  I  was  armed,  or  for  some 
other  reason,  they  thought  better  of  it,  and  made  it  up. 

I  said  good-bye  to  them  next  morning,  when  they 
started  in  the  bitter  cold  on  their  journey  South,  crossing 
the  ice  to  the  Illinois  side,  and  thought  but  little  more 
of  them  till,  in  about  ten  days,  I  had  a  call  from  the  City 
Marshal.  He  asked  me  a  good  deal  about  these  men, 
and  then  requested  me  to  go  with  him  to  the  office  of 
Major  Walker,  the  manager  and  engineer  of  the  St.  Louis 
and  Jefferson  City  Railway.  The  Major  asked  me 
many  questions  about  my  acquaintances,  and,  when  I 
told  him  all  I  knew,  horrified  me  by  saying  they  were 
wanted  for  the  murder  of  his  friend  and  sub-engineer, 
Mr.  Gordon. 

It  seems  Gordon  had  put  up  at  a  farm  on  the  road 
to  St.  Louis  with  these  two  men  ;  that  they  had  started 
thence  together,  and  that  Gordon,  who  had  a  valuable 
gold  watch  and  chain,  and  a  large  sum  of  money 
on  him,  had  not  been  seen  since.  The  watch  I  saw 
McNutt  wearing  was  his,  as  also  one  of  the  horses 
I  had  admired  so  much. 

After  a  long  search  Gordon's  body  was  found  by  a 
dog  the  searchers  had  with  them,  buried  in  the  snow 


THE    ICE-FLOOR    BREAKS    UP!  69 

close  to  the  roadside,  with  a  bullet  wound  in  the 
head. 

A  reward  of  $2,000  was  offered  for  the  apprehension 
of  McNutt  and  his  companion,  and  they  were  caught 
and  brought  back  to  St.  Louis.  Each  tried  to  fix  the 
guilt  on  the  other,  but  at  the  trial,  which  took  place 
four  months  later,  and  to  which  I  was  subpoenaed  as 
a  witness  from  Kansas,  they  were  both  found  guilty, 
and  presently  hanged. 

McNutt's  father  was  a  doctor  in  large  practice  in 
Baltimore,  and  with  him,  and  with  the  grief-stricken 
mother,  I  had  a  most  painful  meeting  after  the  trial. 

Till  the  end  of  February  the  cruel  frost  kept  every 
one,  and  every  thing,  fast  bound  in  its  fetters  of  iron, 
and  then  it  showed  signs  of  yielding.  How  gladly  I 
hailed  the  coming  change ! 

Naturally,  I  was  impatient  to  continue  my  journey 
West  and  begin  my  new  career.  To  add  to  this,  the 
Press,  and  the  very  air,  were  full  of  rumours  of  a  conflict 
already  begun  in  Kansas,  between  Southerners  and 
"  Free  Soilers."  Excitement  was  growing  day  by  day 
throughout  the  South,  and  especially  in  Missouri,  and 
I  was  as  keen  as  the  rest  to  take  my  part  on  the 
Southern  side. 

Hope  of  release  grew  as  one  stood  on  the  Levee  and 
watched  hundreds  of  men  sawing  the  ice  round  the  fleets 
of  steamboats,  in  preparation  for  the  break-up  and  to 
save  them,  if  possible,  from  threatened  destruction. 

The  actual  break-up,  when  it  came,  was  a  sight  never 
to  be  forgotten.  The  melting  snows  and  pouring  rain 
brought  the  mighty  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers 
down  bank-high  in  flood,  and  on  that  united  rushing 
stream  came  the  upper  ice,  piled,  at  times,  nearly  a 
hundred  feet  in  height.  Before  this  irresistible  force 
and  weight  the  unbroken  ice-floor  opposite  St.  Louis 
burst  and  split  and  rent  with  reports  like  thunder, 
and  in  the  grasp  of  this  hurrying  glacier-like  stream 


70  ON    THE    ROAD    TO    KANSAS 

went    nearly    all    the    steamboats   to   utter  wreck   and 
ruin. 

Madly  they  crashed  one  against  the  other,  and  those 
who  vainly  tried  to  save  them  only  lost  their  lives. 
The  destruction  wrought  was  estimated  at  $3,000,000, 
and  I  don't  think  it  was  much  exaggerated.  It  was 
the  grandest  and  yet  most  awful  sight  I  ever  witnessed, 
and  held  me,  and  vast  crowds,  spellbound  by  the  river 
side  whilst  it  lasted. 


BOOK    II 

KANSAS  IN   1855-59 


CHAPTER    I 

THE    RIVAL   PARTIES 

THOUGH  by  the  latter  end  of  February  the  ice  on  the 
river  had  broken  up,  no  boats  were  running,  or  could 
run,  for  several  weeks.  I  therefore  determined  to  wait 
no  longer,  but  to  ride  to  Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  Missouri, 
a  distance  of  450  miles. 

Leaving  my  niggers  with  their  masters,  who  treated 
them  well,  I  mounted  a  fine  young  horse  I  had  bought, 
and  set  off,  one  bitterly  cold  morning,  on  my  long  and 
solitary  journey.  Roads  there  were  none,  except  near 
the  widely  scattered  farms,  and  then  they  were  more 
like  a  series  of  half- thawed  mudholes. 

The  country  was  very  different  from  the  Virginian  forest- 
lands  I  knew  so  well,  but  the  people  were  the  same  kindly, 
hospitable  folks,  making  the  weary  traveller  welcome 
to  the  best  they  had,  and  seldom  accepting  payment 
for  their  entertainment.  So  I  journeyed  on,  getting  over 
about  thirty-five  miles  a  day  on  an  average,  and  nothing 
worth  recording  occurred  till  Independence,  an  important 
town  and  Indian  trading-post  on  the  frontier  of  Missouri, 
was  reached.  There  I  found  the  place  crowded  with 
Missourians  and  a  goodly  sprinkling  of  men  from  the 
Southern  States,  all  full  of  excitement  over  the  burning 
question  whether  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  recently 
opened  up  for  settlement,  should  be  Slave  or  Free. 

The  Free  State  party  in  the  North,  managed  and 
worked  from  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  had  been  sending 
up  men  and  arms,  and  had  occupied  positions  defended 

73 


74  THE    RIVAL    PARTIES 

by  light  artillery.  The  Missourians  were  crossing  the 
river,  and  volunteers  from  all  the  Southern  States  were 
marching  up  to  the  conflict,  which  might  break  out  at 
any  moment. 

In  this  scene  of  seething  unrest  and  wild  passion,  a 
stranger  was  naturally  regarded  with  suspicion  until  he 
declared  his  sympathies.  Mine  were  strongly  on  the 
side  of  the  South,  and,  as  soon  as  I  made  this  known,  I 
was  heartily  welcomed  amongst  the  "  Border  Ruffians," 
as  the  pro-Slavery  party  was  nicknamed  by  the  Free 
Staters. 

Strong  pro-slavery  man  as  I  was,  I  saw  a  sight,  as  I 
rode  out  of  the  town  next  morning,  that  opened  my  eyes 
to  the  cruelty  and  barbarity  of  the  "  Institution."  A 
slave-dealer  was  there,  with  his  drove  of  niggers,  collected 
for  the  Southern  market,  and  in  it  was  one  who  had  been 
sold  as  a  desperate  character.  Just  as  I  started,  the 
unfortunate  creature  had  broken  loose,  and  passed  close 
by  me  in  his  frantic  rush  for  the  woods  near  by.  After 
him  came  his  master  and  some  other  men,  shouting 
to  him  to  stop.  But  he  was  running  for  life  and  liberty, 
and  held  on  in  desperation. 

He  was  rapidly  nearing  the  covert  when  the  master 
raised  his  rifle,  fired,  and  the  fugitive  fell  dead  in  his 
tracks.  It  was  a  brutal  deed,  done  by  a  brute,  but  the 
law  sanctioned  it.  It  was  almost  as  much  as  my  life 
was  worth  to  remonstrate  ;  so  I  held  my  tongue  and 
rode  on,  sickened  and  disgusted  with  this,  to  me,  new 
aspect  of  slavery. 

That  night  I  put  up  with  "  Johnny  Cake,"  the  head 
chief  of  the  Delaware  Indians  in  Kansas,  on  the  Delaware 
reserve.  He  was  a  tame  Indian,  spoke  English  well, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  He  treated 
me  very  well,  and  was  most  hospitable  ;  but  what  I 
chiefly  remember  of  my  visit  is  that  my  host  gave  us 
a  long  and  very  extraordinary  grace  before  and  after 
the  corn  bread  and  bacon. 


LEAVENWORTH    CITY    IN    1855  75 

Late  the  next  evening  I  reached  Leavemvorth  City, 
and,  at  a  wooden  shanty  dignified  with  the  name  of 
hotel,  got  taken  in. 

The  "  city  "  was  on  the  Delaware  reserve,  and  was  not 
open  for  settlement ;  indeed  the  U.S.  Government  had 
warned  all  squatters  off  it  by  proclamation,  under  heavy 
penalties.  But  these  were  "  paper  penalties "  only, 
i.e.  never  enforced,  and  were  treated  as  non-existent  ; 
especially  as  it  was  known  that  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  reserve  would  be  thrown  open  in  the  fall. 

In  1855  the  "  city,"  now  a  great  centre  of  the  rich 
wheat-growing  district  in  which  it  stands,  consisted  of  a 
few  frame  buildings,  two  or  three  small  stores,  and 
the  "  hotel  "  I  put  up  at.  The  Leavenworth  Democrat 
represented  the  majesty  of  the  "  Fourth  Estate,"  and  was 
edited,  printed,  and  published  in  a  small  shanty  under  a 
big  cottonwood-tree  by  Major  Euston,  an  out-and-out 
Southerner,  and  a  typical  specimen  of  the  South-western 
fighting  editor.  He  was  the  quickest  man  with  his 
six-shooter  I  ever  saw,  even  in  a  country  where  it 
behoved  every  one  to  be  on  the  alert. 

The  little  place  was  full  of  gamblers,  as  all  frontier 
settlements  were  in  those  days. 

Their  "  boss  sportsman  "  was  a  certain  A.  B.  Miller, 
who  had  run  up  a  shanty  with  a  showily  fitted-out  bar 
and  rooms  for  the  accommodation  of  the  fraternity. 
There  roulette,  pharo,  and  poker  were  going  on  from 
midday  all  through  the  night,  and  large  sums  changed 
hands.  Now  and  then  some  unlucky  gambler  would  end 
his  miseries  in  the  mighty  Missouri,  and  many  another 
was  shot  in  the  saloon  itself  during  the  constant  night 
rows. 

In  those  early  days  there  was  no  law  in  the  city, 
not  even  a  Vigilance  Committee,  and  the  sporting  frater 
nity,  holding  all  together,  and  being  well  armed,  ruled 
without  question.  They  were  all  "  Sound  on  the  goose," 
or  in  other  words,  strong  pro-slavery  men,  and  their 


76  THE    RIVAL    PARTIES 

misdeeds  notwithstanding,  were  in  a  measure  popular 
with  the  rest  of  the  community. 

In  face  of  all  these  drawbacks,  and  the  prevailing 
ruffianism,  I  soon  made  up  my  mind  to  risk  my  fortunes 
in  the  Territory.  With  a  man  named  Moses  Young 
from  Kentucky,  a  carpenter  and  contractor,  I  entered 
into  a  sort  of  partnership,  with  the  object  of  buying  up 
likely  "  lots  "  and  building  thereon  shanties  for  the  new 
arrivals  who  kept  pouring  in. 

If  I  only  had  had  the  prescience  to  foresee  what  that 
new  country  would  so  rapidly  grow  to,  I  might  now  be 
a  millionaire,  simply  by  buying  up,  and  holding  on  to, 
town  lots. 

As  soon  as  I  had  made  this  agreement  with  Young,  I 
left  my  horse  and  other  belongings  with  him  and  set  off 
for  St.  Louis  to  fetch  my  darkies,  and  my  cash  and 
Manor.  The  soft  breath  of  spring  was  in  the  air,  spring 
that  comes  so  suddenly  and  so  sweetly  in  the  South 
western  States  of  the  Union,  and  my  six  days'  trip  down 
the  river  was  delightful.  Ten  days  I  spent  in  St.  Louis, 
and  then  started  back  with  my  "  chattels,"  my  dog,  and 
my  capital  of  $2,000,  as  well  as  a  wagon  and  harness 
for  a  team  I  had  bought  as  a  spec. 

The  boat  was  crowded  with  pro-slavery  men,  and  some 
few  Free  Staters  ;  but  the  latter  kept  very  quiet.  At 
Leavenworth  the  Levee  was  crowded  by  the  whole 
population,  who  had  turned  out  to  see  that  our  boat 
had  brought  no  arms  for  the  Free  Staters. 

Young  had  found  me  room  in  a  boarding-house  started 
in  my  absence,  and  we  marched  there  in  great  state, 
followed  by  the  darkies  ;  and  their  possession  gave  me 
quite  a  status  in  the  city  !  The  landlady  of  the  house 
at  once  hired  my  girl  Ann  at  $20  a  month,  and  the  two 
boys  were  as  quickly  taken  for  $25  each,  and  their  keep. 
So  I  had  an  income  of  $70  a  month,  more  than  enough 
for  my  modest  wants,  and  felt  quite  independent. 

Presently  I  bought  another  horse  and,  with  my  new 


y^V^^Afc^ 

OF  Twr      3 


THE    STOUX    CAPTIVES  77 

wagon,  began  carrying,  at  good  paying  rates.  Then 
Moses  Young  and  I  bought  a  lot  and  built  a  Californian 
frame  house,  in  which  to  live  ourselves  and  board  our 
hands,  with  stabling  behind  it  for  our  horses.  Moreover 
we  dug  a  garden,  and  planted  it ;  the  only  one,  I  think, 
in  all  the  city. 

About  two  miles  from  the  city  was  Leavenworth 
Fort,  held  by  a  regiment  of  U.S.  cavalry  and  two  or 
three  companies  of  infantry.  The  Sioux  Indians,  then, 
and  for  some  years  after,  a  very  powerful  tribe,  had  been 
troublesome,  and  just  before  my  arrival  the  troops  had 
had  a  big  fight  with  them.  A  good  many  Indians  were 
killed,  and  a  number  of  prisoners  taken,  which  was  an 
unusual  occurrence  in  those  days,  when  quarter  was  rarely 
given  by  either  side.  I  well  remember  seeing  quite  a 
bunch  of  these  inside  the  Fort,  crouching  on  the  ground 
in  the  bitter  cold,  wrapped  in  their  coloured  blankets, 
apparently  quite  indifferent  to  what  Fate  might  have  in 
store  for  them.  All  the  captive  chiefs  I  know  were 
shot,  but  don't  remember  what  was  done  with  the  rank 
and  file. 

Whilst  my  house  was  building,  some  of  the  officers 
at  the  Fort,  whose  acquaintance  I  had  made,  wanted 
to  be  taken  to  Fort  Riley,  some  150  miles  west,  and  I 
contracted  to  take  them  in  my  wagon.  It  was  a 
most  delightful  trip  across  the  rolling  prairies  in  that 
lovely  spring-time,  and  with  pleasant  companions. 
We  camped  out  each  night  except  one,  when  we  put  up 
at  the  Pottawattamy  Catholic  Mission,  where  the  Sisters 
entertained  us  most  hospitably  and  pleasantly.  To  this 
day  I  remember  the  charm  of  their  courtesy  and  refine 
ment  ;  it  seemed  like  a  memory  of  the  past. 

The  prairies  in  those  days,  one  hundred  miles  back 
from  the  Missouri,  were  covered  with  herds  of  buffalo  and 
antelopes,  and,  never  having  seen  these  before,  I  was 
astounded  at  their  numbers.  The  latter  were  particularly 
tame,  and,  moved  by  their  insatiable  curiosity,  would 


78  THE    RIVAL    PARTIES 

come  circling  up  quite  close  to  the  wagon,  have  a  good 
look,  and  then  gallop  off  again  in  ever  widening  circles. 

We  shot  two  buffaloes  on  OUT  way  up  ;  we  might  have 
shot  hundreds  had  we  cared  to  do  so,  but  as  we  only 
wanted  their  humps  it  would  have  been  sheer  waste. 

After  a  pleasant  stay  at  the  Fort,  which,  by-the-by,  is 
said  to  be  the  centre  point  of  the  United  States,  measuring 
from  east  to  west,  I  departed  on  my  beautiful  but 
lonely  drive  over  the  vast  prairies. 

Having  a  good  supply  of  hump  with  me,  I  did  not  kill 
any  more  buffalo,  though  I  passed  through  many  thou 
sands  of  them  ;  a  sight  that  no  man  now  can  see,  for  on 
the  prairies  where  they  thronged  so  thickly  they  are  as 
extinct  as  is  the  dodo  in  Mauritius. 

One  night,  on  my  back  track,  I  halted,  unwittingly,  close 
to  the  camp  of  the  Delaware  chief  Bullbone,  the  leader 
of  the  warriors  of  that  nation.  I  confess  I  felt  rather 
uneasy  when,  just  as  I  had  unhooked  my  horses,  the 
chief  walked  up  with  three  or  four  "  buck  "  Indians. 
However,  it  turned  out  that  he  was  in  a  peaceful  mood, 
and  only  wanted  to  trade  skins  for  tobacco  and  whiskey. 

As  neither  of  us  could  speak  a  word  of  the  other's 
language,  it  was  rather  difficult  to  arrange  the  deal  ;  but 
we  managed  it  somehow  in  dumb  show,  and  he  de 
parted  in  high  good  humour,  to  my  great  relief,  for  in 
his  presence  my  scalp  seemed  to  fit  rather  loosely  on 
my  head. 

That  was  my  first  meeting  with  a  real  wild  Red  Indian  : 
I  could  heartily  wish  it  had  been  the  last,  for  I  thoroughly 
endorse  Artemus  Ward's  opinion  that  "  they  are  pison 
wherever  met  "  ;  and  I  met  a  great  many  of  them  in 
after  days. 

I  returned  to  Leavenworth  without  adventure  of  any 
sort,  well  pleased  with  the  money  I  had  earned,  and 
with  the  rich  rolling  prairies  of  Kansas. 

"  What  a  splendid  country  is  waiting  the  advent  of 
the  white  man  !  "  I  thought. 


HONEST    ANN  79 

What  a  marvellous  change  the  fifty  years  that  have 
passed  since  then  have  wrought  in  it !  Ah  !  if,  in 
Western  parlance,  "  my  foresights  had  been  as  good 
as  my  hindsights,"  what  might  I  not  have  done  ? 

I  should  mention  that  when  I  started  for  Fort  Riley 
I  was  much  perplexed  as  to  how  to  safely  bestow  my 
cash  capital  of  $2,000.  1  didn't  want  to  take  it  with  me, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  who  might  scalp  me,  and 
there  was  no  one  to  whom  I  could  entrust  it  in  Leaven- 
worth.  Finally,  in  this  fix,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  trust 
my  nigger  girl  Ann  ;  and,  as  it  turned  out,  I  was  right. 

The  boarding-house  where  she  was  employed  was 
raised  on  piles,  and,  in  my  presence,  she  buried  my 
bag  of  money  under  it  at  night.  On  my  return  we 
went  and  dug  it  up,  and  not  a  dollar  was  missing. 
I  believe  Ann,  poor  girl,  was  the  only  honest  person 
in  the  place  ! 

Even  then  this  blessed  money  bothered  me  not  a 
little,  for  there  was  no  place  of  safety  for  it.  Generally 
I  carried  it  about  with  me,  but  sometimes  buried  it, 
and  always  kept  the  fact  that  I  had  ready  money  as 
secret  as  I  could.  However,  Miller,  the  boss  gambler, 
got  wind  of  it,  and  pressed  me  to  lend  him  $1,000  on 
the  security  of  his  saloon  and  its  good- will.  In  the 
then  state  of  affairs  I  couldn't  well  refuse,  so  let 
him  have  it,  though  with  many  doubts  as  to  whether 
I  should  ever  see  it  again. 

The  Calif ornian  frame  house  was  nearly  finished  by 
this  time,  and  Ann,  the  honest,  was  installed  as  cook  to 
cater  for  our  carpenters,  who  crowded  in  for  board  and 
lodging,  at  high  prices,  before  even  the  place  was  ready. 

Meanwhile  the  political  excitement  had  day  by  day 
been  growing  more  intense,  and  now  was  at  fever  heat. 

Quietly  and  calmly  looking  back  on  the  situation  in 
the  United  States,  one  sees  quite  clearly  that  the  struggle 
for  supremacy  between  North  and  South,  of  which  the 
fighting  in  Kansas  was  only  the  prelude,  had  to  be  decided 


80  THE    RIVAL    PARTIES 

sooner  or  later.  Further,  it  is  also  plain  that  the  two 
sections  were  so  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other  in 
political  ideas  that  they  must  have  fought  it  out  before 
a  peaceful  modus  vivendi  could  be  arrived  at.  Negro 
slavery  was  not  the  cause  of  the  war,  but  only  one  of 
many  causes  ;  nor  did  the  North  enter  on  the  struggle 
with  the  object  of  freeing  the  negro. 

The  South,  broadly  speaking,  was  a  landed  aristocracy, 
whilst  the  North  was  trading  and  commercial. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  the  South, 
with  its  comparatively  sparse  white  population,  had,  by 
the  voting  power  given  by  its  negroes  (though  these  of 
course  had  no  votes  themselves),  ruled  the  wealthy  and 
rapidly  growing  Northern  States,  and  the  yoke  had  at 
last  become  intolerable. 

In  Kansas  the  South  fought  for  the  right  to  add  to  the 
number  of  Slave  States,  which  was  its  only  hope  of  re 
taining  supremacy  in  the  Union  ;  the  North  to  restrict 
slavery  within  the  limits  fixed  by  the  agreement  arrived 
at  in  1820. 

The  law  of  1787  forbade  the  extension  of  slavery  North 
of  the  Ohio  River,  whilst  it  prevailed  in  all  the  States  and 
Territories  south  of  that  boundary.  Then  came  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  by  the  States — an  immense  acces 
sion  of  territory.  The  portion  round  New  Orleans  was 
admitted  as  a  Slave  State  in  1812,  under  the  name  of 
Louisiana  ;  but  when,  a  little  later,  the  country  round 
St.  Louis,  on  the  Missouri,  where  slavery  already  pre 
vailed,  applied  for  admission,  as  another  Slave  State,  the 
North  strongly  opposed  the  application.  Finally  a  com 
promise  was  arrived  at,  by  which  it  was  settled  that 
Missouri  should  be  a  Slave  State,  but  that  all  the  rest 
of  the  Louisiana  purchase  north  of  its  southern  boun 
dary,  i.e.  north  of  36°  30',  should  always  be  free. 

This  was  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  no 
doubt  it  deferred  the  inevitable  conflict  for  many  years. 

In   1836  Texas,  over  which  the  States  had  acquired 


SQUATTER    SOVEREIGNTY  81 

some  vague  claim  by  the  Louisiana  purchase,  revolted 
from  Mexico,  and  set  up  as  an  independent  Republic. 
In  1845  this  short-lived  independence  came  to  an  end, 
and  Texas  was  annexed  by  the  States,  and  admitted  as 
a  Slave  State. 

In  1846  war  broke  out  between  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  and  Mexico,  on  questions  arising  from  the 
boundaries  of  the  new  State.  By  the  treaty  signed  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  1848,  Mexico  ceded  to  the 
States  the  southern  and  western  portions  of  Texas,  as 
well  as  New  Mexico,  part  of  Arizona,  and  California. 

Here  was  an  immense  accession  of  strength  to  the 
South,  and  the  old  disputes  broke  out  afresh  between 
the  two  sections.  These  were  finally  allayed  by  the 
expedient  of  allowing  the  people  of  each  portion  of  the 
territory  obtained  from  Mexico  to  decide  the  question 
of  slavery  for  themselves  ;  this  was  afterwards  known 
as  "  squatter  sovereignty." 

In  1850  California  was  admitted  as  a  Free  State,  to  the 
great  disgust  of  the  South,  which  could  not  control  the 
vote  of  the  emigrants  who  rushed  thither  on  the  dis 
covery  of  gold.  To  pacify  this  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
was  passed,  under  which  the  Federal  authorities  were 
ordered  to  return  to  their  owners  all  slaves  escaping  to 
the  North.  The  putting  of  this  in  force  at  once  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  the  party  of  Abolition,  which  had 
hitherto  been  comparatively  insignificant  in  numbers. 

Now  in  1854,  just  before  I  arrived  on  the  scene  of 
strife,  the  South  attempted  to  apply  the  principle 
of  "  squatter  sovereignty  "  to  the  vast  territories  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  lying  north  of  the  36°  30' 
line.  This  was  manifestly  a  breach  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  and  the  North  was  up  in  arms  at  once. 

This  is  a  long  digression  from  my  story,  but  it  seemed 
necessary  to  explain,  as  shortly  as  possible,  the  cause  of 
the  bitter  strife  in  which  I  played  a  humble  part. 

The  Southerners  then,  whether  they  had  law  and  right 

6 


82  THE    RIVAL    PARTIES 

on  their  side  or  not,  were  determined  to  establish  "  squat 
ter  sovereignty  "  in  Kansas,  and  to  carry  the  vote  for 
slavery.  The  Northerners  were  equally  determined  they 
should  not  succeed. 

South  Carolina,  Missouri,  and  Texas  especially,  raised 
war  funds  and  organised  companies. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  moving  spirit  of  Faneuil 
Hall,  Boston,  and  his  Abolitionist  associates,  with  any 
amount  of  capital  behind  them,  poured  men  and  arms 
into  the  territory,  regardless  of  expense. 

The  Government  at  Washington,  controlled  by  the 
Southern  Democrats,  preserved  a  benevolent  neutrality 
for  the  Southerners'  cause,  and  did  not  interfere  until 
compelled  to  do  so  by  the  frightful  state  of  anarchy 
which  eventually  prevailed. 

To  stop  the  influx  of  men  and  arms  from  the  North 
into  Leavenworth,  which  was  the  only  easily  accessible 
port  of  entry  for  them,  a  "  minute  company,"  so  called 
from  its  brief  period  of  service,  was  formed  to  search  every 
boat,  more  especially  for  arms.  I  joined  this  company 
directly  after  my  return  from  Fort  Riley,  and  I  remember 
we  seized  a  great  number  of  rifles  ;  some  of  them 
Sharp's  breech-loaders,  two  of  which  were  given  to  me. 

Now  the  elections  for  the  Territorial  Legislature  came 
on,  and,  considered  as  elections,  were  of  course  a  farce. 
In  many  places  the  Missourians  and  other  Southerners 
seized  the  polls,  and  crammed  the  ballot-boxes.  In  others 
the  "Free  Soilers"  did  the  same.  The  result  was  that  two 
Legislatures  were  elected  ;  the  pro-Slavery  one  making  its 
capital  at  Lecompton,  and  the  Free  State  one  at  Topeka. 

The  rival  parties  met  at  the  polls  and  elsewhere,  and 
many  lives  were  lost  in  the  fights  that  took  place.  The 
excitable  Southerners'  blood  was  nearly  at  boiling-point, 
when  Sheriff  Jones,  elected  by  them,  was  shot  dead  by 
a  "  Free  Soiler,"  in  the  execution  of  his  duty. 

Then  it  boiled  over,  and  the  fight  became  general  ;  but 
what  I  saw  of  it  must  be  left  for  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER    II 

WITH    "  THE    BORDER   RUFFIANS  " 

FULLY  resolved  to  throw  in  my  lot  with  the  South,  I 
now  joined  a  company  of  mounted  Rangers,  raised  by 
A.  B.  Miller,  who,  though  a  professional  gambler,  had  the 
reputation  of  a  plucky  fighting  man,  and  was  at  once 
elected  orderly  sergeant  myself.  No  oath  of  enlistment 
was  taken,  but  there  was  no  fear  of  desertion  or  insubor 
dination,  since  death  would  have  been  the  penalty  for 
either  crime. 

Our  company  was  the  best  mounted  and  equipped  in 
the  Southern  force,  and,  as  soon  as  we  were  mustered, 
moved  into  camp  at  Salt  Creek,  about  three  miles  from 
Leavenworth  City,  where  about  eight  hundred  Missouri 
and  Southern  volunteers  were  assembled. 

Our  commander  was  "  General  "  Davy  Atchison,  a 
well-known  and  influential  character  in  those  parts. 
When  I  met  him,  and  served  under  him,  he  was  about 
fifty-five  years  of  age,  and  one  of  the  most  popular  men 
in  his  section  of  the  country  ;  in  fact,  a  typical  Western 
politician.  A  lawyer  by  profession,  he  was  also  a  planter, 
and  large  slave-owner  ;  consequently  thoroughly  "  Sound 
on  the  goose."  At  this  time  he  was  U.S.  Senator  for 
the  State  of  Missouri,  and  had  been  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States.  As  an  Indian  fighter  and  hunter  he 
had  made  himself  a  great  reputation. 

With  a  somewhat  rough  exterior,  he  was  really  a 
kindly  man,  and,  being  "  hail-fellow-well-met "  with  all 
his  supporters,  was,  as  I  have  said,  extremely  popular. 

83 


84        WITH     'THE    BORDER    RUFFIANS" 

Miller  introduced  me  to  the  "  General  "  soon  after 
I  joined  the  camp.  He  invited  us  into  his  tent,  and 
ordered  drinks  forthwith.  Youngster  that  I  was,  the 
old  fellow  received  me  without  any  "  side  "  or  stand- 
offishness,  so  that  I  felt  on  a  friendly  footing  at  once, 
and,  like  the  rest  of  his  followers,  would  have  gone 
anywhere  with  him. 

Life  in  camp  was  pleasant  enough  at  first,  for  our 
"  General  "  didn't  go  in  for  much  drill,  possibly  because 
he  didn't  know  much  about  it  himself,  and  our  principal 
duty  was  to  keep  watch  and  ward  over  the  river  and  stop 
all  passing  steamboats  to  search  them  for  Free  Soilers 
and  their  arms.  Those  that  did  not  stop  when  ordered 
were  promptly  brought  to  by  a  field  battery  we  had 
posted  on  the  river,  commanding  the  passage.  All 
suspected  Free  Staters  were  taken  out  and  kept  under 
guard,  and  of  course  all  their  arms  were  confiscated. 
,-Our  excuse  for  this  rather  high-handed  proceeding 
was  that  "  The  Massachusetts  Emigrants'  Aid  Society," 
with  great  resources  at  its  back,  was  pouring  men  and 
I  anna  into  Kansas,  with  the  avowed  object  of  conquering 
l^ind  dominating  the  Territory,  by  fair  means  or  foul, 
for  the  Free  State  party. 

Our  first  apparently  important  movement  was  now 
made  on  Lawrence,  the  Northern  headquarters,  which 
was  protected  by  considerable  earthworks  and  held  by 
a  force  of  some  two  thousand  men  under  Robinson,  the 
"  Free  State  "  governor,  and  other  leaders  of  the  party. 

I  may  say  at  once  that,  though  we  did  a  deal  of  march 
ing  and  counter-marching,  and  though  on  several 
occasions  a  general  engagement  between  the  opposing 
forces  seemed  imminent,  it  never  came  to  a  pitched 
battle  ;  and  all  the  many  lives  that  were  lost  in  this 
miserable  border  fighting,  were  lost  in  small  affairs 
between  scouting  parties  and  outposts.  Many  men  too, 
on  either  side,  were  killed  in  this  way  to  pay  out  old 
scores  and  gratify  private  spite  and  revenge. 


LAWRENCE    SURRENDERS  85 

So  one  fine  morning  we  "  Border  Ruffians,"  as  the 
enemy  called  us,  struck  camp  and  marched  out  some 
fifteen  hundred  strong,  with  two  6-pr.  field-pieces,  to 
attack  Lawrence,  my  company  acting  as  the  advance 
guard.  We  halted  the  first  night  near  Lecompton,  our 
capital,  my  company  being  on  picket  duty,  spread  out 
fan-like  some  two  miles  round  the  camp.  Next  morning 
Governor  Shannon,  our  own  party's  governor,  paid  us  a 
visit  of  inspection,  and  was  pleased  to  express  his  high 
approval  of  our  discipline  and  workmanlike  appearance. 

I  can't  say  much  for  our  discipline  myself,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  we  were  a  fighting  lot,  if  only  the  Northerners 
had  given  us  the  chance  of  proving  it. 

The  morning  after  the  inspection  we  marched  on 
Lawrence,  where  we  expected  a  sharp  fight,  which 
we  were  fully  confident  of  winning.  My  company  acted 
again  as  the  advance  guard,  and  when,  about  midday, 
we  reached  Mount  Oread,  a  strongly  fortified  position, 
on  which  several  guns  were  mounted,  covering  the  ap 
proach  to  the  town,  great  was  our  surprise  to  find  it  had 
been  evacuated.  As  soon  as  our  general  received  the 
report,  he  ordered  our  company  to  make  a  wide  circuit 
round  the  town,  to  seize  the  fords  of  the  Kansas  River 
and  hold  the  road  leading  east. 

Then  he  moved  the  rest  of  his  force  to  within  half  a 
mile  of  the  town,  formed  square  on  the  open  prairie,  and 
sent  in  a  flag  of  truce,  demanding  an  unconditional 
surrender  of  the  place.  To  the  no  small  disgust  of  the 
''  Border  Ruffians,"  Governor  Robinson,  without  further 
parley,  threw  up  the  sponge,  and  meekly  surrendered 
the  town  and  the  2,500  men  it  contained. 

No  doubt  his  men  were  not  very  keen  on  fighting, 
being  the  riff-raff  of  the  Northern  towns  enlisted  by  the 
Emigrants'  Aid  Society,  and  most  of  them  quite  unused 
to  bear  arms  of  any  kind.  Many  of  them  bolted  for  the 
Kansas  River  ford  and  the  Eastern  road  ;  and  we  of 
Miller's  company  took  quite  three  times  our  own  number 


86        WITH     'THE    BORDER    RUFFIANS" 

of  these  valiant  warriors  prisoners.  I  well  remember 
how  scared  the  poor  wretches  were  !  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  the  prisoners'  lives  were  spared,  all  but 
two,  and  they  were  hanged  by  the  Provost  Marshal  for 
horse-stealing,  the  penalty  for  which  was  invariably 
death,  in  that  Western  country,  even  in  ordinary  times. 

Though  the  prisoners  were  spared,  I  regret  to  say  the 
town  was  not,  for  Atchison's  men  got  completely  out  of 
hand,  battered  down  the  "  Free  State  Hotel,"  and  sacked 
most  of  the  houses.  It  was  a  terrible  scene  of  orgy,  and 
I  was  very  glad  when,  about  midnight,  we  of  Miller's 
company  were  ordered  off  to  Lecompton  to  report  the 
day's  doings  to  Governor  Shannon.  There  we  were 
kept  several  days,  scouring  the  country  for  Free 
Soilers,  and  impressing  arms,  horses,  and  corn. 

In  these  operations  we  occupied  Topeka,  the  pro- 
Slavery  capital,  and  had  a  brush  with  a  body  of  North 
erners,  under  Jim  Lane,  in  which  we  lost  two  men  killed 
and  six  wounded. 

Next,  at  "  Lone  Jack,"  we  had  a  skirmish  with  Captain 
John  Brown's  men,  but  the  firing  was  at  long  range  and 
no  harm  was  done,,  for  the  Free  Staters  soon  retired,  and 
we  were  not  strong  enough  to  follow  them  up. 

On  the  march,  the  day  after  this,  to  Stranger  Creek, 
and  whilst  scouting  ahead  of  the  company  with  two  other 
men,  I  came  on  the  bodies  of  two  young  men  lying  close 
together,  both  shot  through  the  head.  The  murdered 
men,  for  it  was  brutal  murder  and  nothing  else,  were 
dressed  like  Yankee  mechanics,  and  apparently  had 
been  done  to  death  the  previous  night. 

I  had  heard  that  one  of  our  scouting  parties  had  taken 
some  prisoners,  but  that  they  had  escaped  ;  and  now  it 
was  plain  what  had  been  done  by  some  of  our  ruffians. 
That  night  I  told  Miller  that  I  would  be  no  party  to  such 
disgraceful  villainy,  and  that  if  any  more  of  it  went  on 
I  would  quit  the  company,  for  I  had  no  mind  to'  fight 
with  murderers,  or  with  a  rope  round  my  neck.  He 


A    QUARRELSOME    RUFFIAN'S    FATE       87 

made  light  of  the  whole  affair  ;  said  the  other  side  had 
done  just  the  same,  and  that  for  his  part  he  did  not 
mean  to  ask  for,  or  give,  quarter. 

At  Stranger  Creek  we  remained  the  next  day,  waiting 
for  orders,  and  a  party  of  the  boys  was  sent  out  foraging. 
Presently  they  returned  with  bundles  of  green  corn, 
some  chickens,  and  a  pig  or  two.  The  eatables  were 
fairly  divided  amongst  the  messes,  and  soon  all  were 
busy  cooking  the  welcome  additions  to  the  ever 
lasting  bacon.  But  the  supply  of  corn  was  scanty, 
and  there  was  almost  a  fight  amongst  us  for  it, 
each  man  being  keen  to  get  a  bit  for  his  horse. 

What  now  followed  shows  how  cheaply  human  life 
was  held  in  those  rough  times,  and  how  feeble  was 
the  discipline  the  Governor  had  praised  so  much. 

Amongst  the  foragers  was  one  Mike  Murphy,  a  bar 
keeper  from  Leavenworth  ;  a  very  quarrelsome  and  ill- 
conditioned  fellow.  He  had  taken  more  than  his  share 
of  the  corn,  and  Lieutenant  Kelly,  a  Texan,  ordered 
him  to  hand  over  part  of  it  for  his  horse.  Murphy 
refused,  swore  at  him,  and  dared  him  to  come  and  take 
it.  The  lieutenant  took  no  notice  of  this,  but  quietly 
stepped  over  and  helped  himself  to  the  bundle. 

Murphy  seized  his  loaded  rifle,  and  Kelly  bolted  for 
the  only  tent  we  had  standing,  using  it  as  a  screen. 
Mike  thought  he  saw  a  chance,  took  a  snap  shot,  missed, 
then  threw  down  the  empty  rifle,  and  ran  for  the  bush. 
Kelly  then  whipped  out  his  six-shooter,  fired  three 
times,  and  missed. 

All  this  time  Murphy  was  running  for  dear  life,  and 
had  just  reached  the  edge  of  the  covert,  when  the  lieu 
tenant  fired  again.  This  time  his  aim  was  true,  and 
the  bullet  struck  the  fugitive  full  in  the  middle  of  his 
back.  With  a  tremendous  bound,  like  a  shot  buck, 
and  one  piercing  scream,  he  fell  in  his  tracks  and  lay 
motionless. 

We   carried   him   into   camp,   where   he   lingered   till 


88         WITH     'THE    BORDER    RUFFIANS" 

next  day,  in  great  agony,  and  then  died.  Kelly  reported 
what  he  had  done  to  our  captain,  and  was  placed  under 
arrest. 

Though  in  the  opinion  of  the  company,  or  the  majority 
of  it,  he  was  justified  in  killing  Murphy,  it  was  thought 
best  he  should  resign  his  position,  which  he  accordingly 
did,  and  I  was  elected  by  the  unanimous  votes  of  the 
men  to  fill  the  vacancy.  To  be  chosen  second  Lieutenant 
of  such  a  corps  may  not  be  thought  a  very  high  honour  ; 
but  my  comrades,  whatever  else  they  were,  were  fighting 
men,  and  I  was  proud  that  they  thought  a  youngster 
like  myself  fit  to  fill  the  billet. 

We  now  moved  on  to  Leavenworth,  where  our  chiefs 
were  every  day  expecting  an  attack  from  the  forces  led 
by  Colonel  Jim  Lane.  This  man  had  made  a  reputation 
in  the  late  Mexican  War,  and  was  placed  in  chief  com 
mand  of  the  Free  State  invaders,  with  all  the  power  and 
wealth  of  the  New  Englanders  at  his  back.  Therefore, 
as  a  measure  of  precaution,  a  strong  laager  was  formed 
round  three  sides  of  the  town  with  chained  wagons 
belonging  to  Major  &  Russell,  the  great  firm  of  freighters. 
The  fourth  side  was  a  bluff  overlooking  the  Missouri, 
and  needed  no  defence. 

Two  mounted  companies,  of  which  mine  was  one, 
were  camped  on  Brush  Creek,  about  a  mile  from  the 
Leavenworth  line,  with  pickets  spread  out  in  a  circle, 
some  six  miles  round. 

Colonel  Lane,  however,  thought  himself  not  strong 
enough  to  attack  us,  and  drew  off  to  Lawrence,  where 
he  entrenched  himself.  So  the  rival  forces  remained 
for  some  time  doing  nothing,  each  waiting  the  other's 
attack. 

Meanwhile  much  "  bushwhacking "  and  murdering 
went  on  on  both  sides,  and  in  this  respect  there  was 
but  little  to  choose  between  them. 

On  scouting  duty  we  were  supposed  to  burn  and 
destroy  the  houses  and  property  of  any  Free  Staters  we 


A    RISKY    VISIT  89 

could  find,  and  to  kill,  or  capture,  the  owners.  Hateful 
enough  work  that  I  detested,  and  avoided  whenever 
I  could. 

Of  course  I  was  often  in  command  of  parties  sent 
out  on  such  an  errand,  but  I  ain  glad  to  think  that, 
in  this  position,  I  was  now  and  then  able  to  save  home 
steads  from  fire,  and  their  owners  from  murder.  On 
one  such  occasion  I  had  been  instrumental  in  saving  a 
large  ranch  belonging  to  a  prominent  Free  Stater  named 
Cody  ;  to  this  I  owe  it  that  I  am  now  alive  to  tell  the 
story  that  follows. 

One  night,  whilst  on  picket  duty,  I  left  my  party, 
and  taking  one  man,  Missouri  Smith  by  name,  rode 
over  to  a  ranch  some  six  miles  away  in  the  hills  near 
Stranger  Creek.  I  fully  believed  there  were  none  of 
the  enemy's  scouts  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  having  a 
great  attraction  at  the  ranch,  in  the  shape  of  a  young 
lady  named  Margaret  Hendricks,  staying  there,  thought 
I  would  risk  it.  I  was  only  twenty-three,  so  perhaps 
I  may  be  excused.  Anyway  I  fancy  the  same  thing 
has  been  done  often  enough  before,  and  for  the  same 
reason.  Bright  eyes  are  hard  to  resist  in  the  days  of 
one's  youth.  The  owner  of  the  ranch,  Falk  by  name, 
was,  I  knew,  in  the  Free  State  camp,  but  his  wife  and 
her  sister,  a  "  Californian  widow,"  were  at  home, 
and  my  friend  Margaret  was  with  them.  An  hour 
or  two's  chat  with  the  ladies  would  be  such  a  pleasant 
change  from  camp  life,  that  go  I  must ! 

We  reached  the  ranch  about  9  p.m.,  seeing  no  sign 
of  the  enemy  by  the  way,  and  hitched  our  horses  to 
the  fence  close  by. 

The  only  arms  Smith  and  I  had  were  our  six-shooters  ; 
mine  I  carried  in  my  belt. 

The  ladies  welcomed  us  very  kindly,  though  Margaret 
warned  me  I  was  doing  a  very  risky  thing,  as  some  of 
Lane's  scouts  had  recently  been  seen  in  the  neighbour 
hood,  and  begged  me  not  to  stay.  If  they  caught  me 


90         WITH     'THE    BORDER    RUFFIANS" 

they  would  surely  kill  me,  and  I  mustn't  risk  my  life, 
but  go  at  once.  Boy-like,  I  laughed  at  the  danger,  told 
her  she  needn't  be  afraid  for  me,  and  stayed  on. 

We  had  supper,  and  were  enjoying  ourselves  mightily, 
for  Margaret  had  forgotten  her  fears,  when  suddenly, 
without  the  slightest  warning,  four  men  fully  armed 
burst  into  the  room,  a  pistol  was  clapped  to  my  head 
before  I  could  stir,  and  I  was  called  on  to  surrender, 

"  or  my  d d  head  would  be  blown  off."  I  glanced 

round  ;  besides  the  pistol  at  my  head,  I  was  covered 
by  four  carbines,  and  my  man  Smith,  who  had  been 
asleep,  was  already  securely  bound.  It  was  hopeless 
to  resist,  so  of  course  I  caved  in,  and  was  at  once 
disarmed. 

Sergeant  Everard,  in  charge  of  the  party  of  eight  men, 

abused  me  roundly.  "  We  know  you  well,  you  d d 

villain  ;  we've  been  after  you  a  long  time,  and  now 
we've  got  you  at  last,  we'll  hang  you  pretty  quickly." 

A  pleasant  plight  to  be  in  ;  even  a  worse  one  than  I 
feared,  for  I  had  expected  to  be  shot,  not  to  be  hanged  ! 
But  I  was  helpless,  and  could  only  try  to  brace  myself 
to  bear  the  dread  ordeal  like  a  man. 

It  was  no  good  to  plead  for  mercy,  I  knew ;  my 
company,  or  some  of  its  members,  had  done  too  many 
ruthless  deeds,  for  which  no  doubt  I  had  the  credit ; 
so  I  held  my  tongue. 

But  if  I  was  silent,  the  three  ladies,  and  especially 
Margaret,  who  knew  Everard,  and  another  of  the  party 
named  Cline,  begged  hard  for  my  life  ;  but  it  seemed 
to  me,  made  no  impression  on  our  captors.. 

They  took  us  out  to  an  oak-tree  close  by,  and  got 
ready  the  ropes,  fastening  them  to  an  overhanging  branch. 
The  end  seemed  very  near.  I  stood  stunned  and  stupefied, 
and  said  no  word  ;  only  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  the 
kind  women  folks  sounded  in  my  ears,  as  though  heard 
in  a  dream.  During  those  few  moments  that  I  stood 
waiting  for  my  death,  the  present  seemed  to  vanish, 


THAT    AWFUL    DANGLING    ROPE  91 

and  my  thoughts  wont  rushing  through  all  the  events 
of  my  short  life.  So  short  it  seemed,  and  so  sad  to  end 
it  in  this  terrible  way  ;  and  there  was  no  one  to  tell 
my  dear  ones  in  the  far  away  vicarage  home  how  I  had 
died.  Best  after  all  that  they  should  not  know  it ! 

Then  some  one  touched  me  on  the  shoulder  ;  the 
ropes  were  ready,  and  our  captors  impatient  to  be  done 
with  the  hanging.  That  touch  roused  me  from  my 
stupor,  and  I  bethought  me  of  Cody,  and  what  1 
had  done  for  him  only  a  few  days  ago.  I  spoke  at  last, 
and  told  Everard  the  story  ;  asked  him  to  ride  over 
to  Cody's  (it  was  only  two  miles  off),  and  he  would  learn 
that  I  was  not  the  ruffian  they  supposed. 

Margaret  averred  that  my  story  was  true,  and  that  I 
had  saved  Cody,  and  others  of  their  friends,  from  ruin 
and  worse.  She,  and  the  others,  begged  so  hard  that 
he  would  do  this  little  thing,  for  their  sakes,  that  at 
last  Everard  consented,  though  with  a  bad  grace,  and 
rode  off,  leaving  Smith  and  myself  safely  guarded  under 
that  oak-tree  with  its  dangling  nooses. 

For  an  hour  we  stood  there,  with  seven  men  round  us, 
ready  to  shoot  us  down  if  we  tried  to  escape. 

Would  Cody  come,  and  would  he  be  true  enough  to 
speak  in  my  favour  if  he  did  ?  Hope  and  despair 
alternated  in  my  mind,  and  in  all  my  long  life  I 
have  never  spent  such  an  hour  as  that ;  the  minutes 
seemed  hours,  and  the  hour  dragged  itself  out  to 
years. 

Now  my  straining  ears  caught  the  distant  sound  of 
galloping  hoofs.  WTas  it  one  horse,  or  two  ?  How 
intently  I  listened  to  the  dull  thud  on  the  soft  turf! 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  sound  ;  there  were  two 
horsemen,  sure  enough.  Cody  had  come,  and  the  bitter 
ness  of  death  was  passed  ! 

The  moment  he  heard  Everard's  story,  he  had  saddled 
his  horse  ;  and  there  he  was,  shaking  my  hand  most 
warmly  and  assuring  me  I  was  safe.  A  moment's 


92         WITH     'THE    BORDER    RUFFIANS" 

whispered   conversation   apart,    between   the   two    men, 
and  I  was  allowed  to  go  back  into  the  house  again. 

Everard  announced  that  on  Cody's  intercession,  and 
on  his  statement  of  how  I  had  befriended  him,  and 
other  Free  Staters,  my  life,  and  Smith's,  would  be 
spared,  but  we  would  have  to  give  up  our  horses, 
arms,  accoutrements,  and  any  money  we  had  on  us. 
You  may  be  sure  we  were  glad  enough  to  get  off  even 
on  these  terms  ;  so  after  most  warmly  thanking  the 
ladies,  and  Cody,  for  saving  our  lives,  and  many  hearty 
handshakes,  we  departed. 

To  Margaret  Hendricks  special  thanks  were  due ; 
for  it  was  her  influence  with  Everard,  and  her  tears  and 
pleadings,  that  saved  me  from  a  shameful  death. 

I  thanked  her  from  my  heart  of  hearts  ;  and  so  we 
parted. 

I  shall  never  forget  that  wretched  six-mile  tramp  across 
the  prairie  with  Smith,  who  never  spoke  a  word,  and 
seemed  dazed  and  stupefied  by  the  experience  he  had 
gone  through.  For  myself,  that  hour  under  the  oak- 
tree  and  its  dangling  ropes  will  never  be  forgotten. 

Arrived  at  camp,  miserable  and  crestfallen,  I  got 
a  severe  reprimand  from  Miller,  but  retained  my  position 
as  second  Lieutenant,  and  had  to  provide  myself  with 
another  horse,  accoutrements,  etc. 

By  this  time  the  lawlessness  and  anarchy  prevailing  in 
Kansas  had  become  a  scandal  to  civilisation,  and  great 
pressure  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  Government  at 
Washington  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  The  President  therefore 
ordered  out  two  regiments  of  U.S.  cavalry,  under  Colonel 
Sumner,  to  keep  the  peace,  and  issued  a  proclamation 
directing  both  parties  to  disperse  ;  the  troops  to  march 
against  either  side  that  might  disregard  it. 

Thereupon  we  were  marched  into  Leavenworth  and 
disbanded,  and  the  so-called  Kansas  War  came  to  an 
end. 


CHAPTER    III 

CLAIM-MAKING,    AND    SQUATTER   RIGHTS 

THOUGH  the  rival  forces  were  both  disbanded,  the  Terri 
tory  remained  in  a  state  of  lawlessness  difficult  to  realise 
in  these  days.  To  add  to  the  anarchy  prevailing,  and 
to  make  "  confusion  worse  confounded,"  the  Delaware 
land  sales  were  coming  on. 

These  lands  by  the  westward  march  of  civilisation 
had  become  valuable,  and,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  the 
unfortunate  Indians  had  to  move  on,  to  make  way 
for  the  white  man.  The  Washington  Government 
had  made  a  new  treaty  with  the  Delawares,  under  which 
they  surrendered  the  greater  part  of  their  reserve 
in  Kansas,  receiving  other  lands  in  exchange,  still 
further  West,  and  an  annual  subsidy  of  so  much  per 
head,  payable  by  the  Indian  Agent. 

These  sections  of  the  reserve,  duly  surveyed  and  laid  out 
by  the  Government,  were  proclaimed  for  sale  (but  not  at 
the  customary  "  pre-emption  "  price)  on  and  after  a  fixed 
date,  which  I  believe  was  October  31,  1855.  Instead 
of  throwing  the  lands  open  for  "  pre-emption,"  the 
authorities  determined  to  sell  them  by  auction  to  the 
highest  bidder;  and  knowing  this,  the  squatters,  long 
before  the  time  fixed  for  the  sale,  seized  all  the  best 
lands,  and  most  of  the  valuable  sites,  and  banded  together 
to  protect  what  they  called  their  rights. 

The  squatters'  organisation  was  a  very  strong  one,  and 
it  was  made  thoroughly  well  known  that  any  Northerner, 
or  land  speculator,  who  dared  to  bid  against  one  of  the 

93 


94    CLAIM-MAKING    AND    SQUATTER    RIGHTS 

fraternity  for  any  land  he  had  seized,  would  be  promptly 
shot,  or  lynched. 

Though  the  city  of  Leavenworth  swarmed  with  anxious 
buyers,  who  had  come  for  the  auction  with  well-lined 
pockets,  so  great  was  the  terrorism  that  not  one  dared 
to  compete  with  the  squatters,  who  all  got  their  lands 
at  the  Government's  upset  price  of  $2.50  an  acre. 

The  auction  took  place  outside  the  walls  of  Fort 
Leavenworth,  possibly  in  the  hope  that  the  presence 
there  of  the  U.S.  troops  might  overawe  the  squatters. 

Surely  never  did  auctioneer  in  his  rostrum  face  such 
an  audience  as  this  one  !  From  far  and  near  the  squatters 
had  come,  all  well  armed  with  six-shooters  and  bowie 
knives ;  and,  for  the  time,  pro-Slavery  and  Free  Stater 
men  sank  their  differences  and  combined  against  the 
eager  speculators  from  the  North.  Hundreds  of  them,  fully 
armed,  stood  round  the  auctioneer,  who,  w^hen  a  squatter's 
land  was  put  up,  vainly  strove  to  get  an  advance  on  the 
upset  price.  Not  one  could  he  get,  poor  man,  till  he 
came  to  the  outlying  sections  which,  though  valuable 
enough,  were  left  to  the  outsiders. 

Three  days  that  auction  lasted,  and,  being  a  squatter 
myself,  I  was  in  constant  attendance.  It  was  as  stormy 
and  threatening  a  scene  as  ever  I  witnessed,  but,  wonderful 
to  say,  passed  off  without  bloodshed. 

Of  course,  like  the  rest,  I  got  my  own  particular  claim 
of  eighty  acres,  for  which  I  paid  $200  and  promptly  sold 
for  $1,500,  as  it  was  adjoining  Leavenworth  City.  I 
thought  myself  pretty  clever  to  have  made  such  a  quick 
and  good  turnover ;  but  I  dare  say  that  land  is  to-day 
worth  $500,000,  for  Leavenworth  City  is  now  one  of  the 
most  important  commercial  centres  in  the  West. 

Another  claim  I  had  on  Salt  Creek,  some  distance  out, 
I  sold  for  $100  and  a  very  fine  mare. 

Now  for  a  brief  space  I  became  a  bar-keeper  and 
gambling-saloon  owner,  and  can't  say  I  liked  it,  though 
the  dollars  rolled  in  freely.  Soon  after  we  were  dis- 


I    TAKE    OVER    MILLER'S    SALOON         95 

banded,  on  the  termination  of  the  "  War,"  I  asked 
Miller  for  the  SI, 000  I  had  lent  him  some  months  be 
fore.  Now  Miller,  gambler  as  he  was,  was  an  honest 
man,  and  frankly  told  me  he  hadn't  the  money,  but 
would  hand  over  his  bar,  saloon  and  stock,  in  satis 
faction  of  his  debt. 

I  took  them,  though  somewhat  reluctantly,  and  so 
became  a  gambling-saloon  owner  !  For  three  weeks 
I  retained  that  proud  position,  doing  a  roaring  trade,  in 
more  senses  than  one  ;  .for  the  land  sales  were  on,  and 
the  town  was  crowded.  Night  after  night,  and  all  night, 
I  had  to  look  after  the  place,  while  the  money  came 
rolling  in  ;  but  I  admit  the  business  had  its  drawbacks, 
and  wasn't  quite  one  that  a  nervous  man  would  choose  ; 
my  customers  were  too  ready  with  their  six-shooters 
for  that. 

Anyhow  I  got  sick  of  it  by  that  time,  and  sold  out 
for  the  money  it  cost  me  ;  so  I  lost  nothing  by  Miller 
after  all. 

Now  shortly  after  the  Delaware  land  sales  were  over, 
the  inevitable  policeman,  represented  by  the  Government 
at  Washington,  ordered  the  Shawnee  Indians  to  "  move 
on."  Their  reserve,  situated  on  the  Kansas  River, 
had  become  valuable  ;  so  the  usual  treaty  was  made, 
and  they  had  to  pack  up  and  be  gone. 

Much  as  I  have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  one  of  their 
tribes,  and  cruel  and  merciless  as  they  are  by  nature, 
one  cannot  but  pity  the  fate  of  the  Red  Indians ;  ever 
moving  westward  before  the  march  of  the  white  man, 
till  extermination  overtook  them,  like  the  buffalo  on 
which  they  lived. 

It  was  well  known  that  this  reserve  would  be  thrown 
open  to  "  pre-emption  "  in  August  of  the  following  year, 
at  the  price  of  $1.25  (five  shillings)  per  acre. 

By  the  law  of  the  United  States  any  one  could 
establish  his  right  to  a  claim  of  40,  80,  or  160  acres 
by  laying  the  foundation  of  a  log  cabin,  16  feet  square, 


96    CLAIM-MAKING    AND    SQUATTER    RIGHTS 

on  such  claim,  and  cutting  his  name,  the  date,  and 
number  of  claim  on  one  of  the  logs.  This  "  squatter 
right  "  held  good  for  six  months  from  the  day  "  pre 
emption  "  was  authorised  by  proclamation  ;  and  it  was 
only  legal  to  make  your  claim  on,  and  after,  that  day. 
Thereafter,  if  you  wished  to  retain  your  claim,  you 
must  break  up  half  an  acre  of  ground,  put  it  into  some 
sort  of  cultivation,  and  build  a  cabin  on  the  foundation. 

This,  as  I  have  said,  was  the  law  ;  but  the  custom  was  to 
make  claims  as  soon  as  it  was  known  for  certain  that  a 
reserve  would  be  thrown  open.  If  any  one  "  jumped  " 
your  claim,  you  had  no  legal  remedy  ;  it  was  a  case  of 
"  the  strong  man  armed  keeping  his  house,"  or  rather 
his  foundation.  So  you  may  be  sure  there  were  plenty  of 
rows,  and  not  seldom  bloodshed,  over  this  claim-making. 

I  had  sold  my  house  in  Leavenworth,  and  my  three 
darkies,  being  obliged  to  do  so  through  heavy  losses  I 
was  let  in  for  by  my  partner  Moses  Young.  I  was  truly 
very  sorry  to  part  with  the  poor  creatures,  and  I  think 
they  were  attached  to  me  ;  but  I  had  no  alternative, 
and  I  found  them  good  masters,  which  was  all  I  could 
do  for  them. 

Being  then  "  foot  loose,"  I  got  up  a  party  of  five, 
all  well  mounted  and  armed,  to  make  claims  in  the 
Shawnee  country.  I  provided  a  wagon  and  horses,  and 
a  team  of  cattle  to  haul  out  the  foundations,  and  the 
simple  provisions  we  required  ;  for  these  capital  outlays 
I  was  allowed  first  choice  of  claims. 

It  was  bitter  December  weather  when  we  started,  and 
the  cold  was  so  intense  that  we  were  nearly  frozen  each 
night,  huddled  together  though  we  were  in  our  wagon. 
Crossing  the  Kansas  River  on  the  ice  we  were  at  once  in 
the  Shawnee  country.  However,  we  were  first  in  the 
field,  which  was  the  great  thing  ;  for  we  knew  that  a 
powerful  organisation  had  been  got  up  in  Kansas  City 
to  lay  claims  on  the  best  lands,  and  to  hold  them  by 
force  of  arms  if  necessary. 


"SHAD"    THE    CLAIM-RUSHER  97 

It  would  be  tedious  to  tell  of  all  the  claims  we  made. 
Suffice  it  to  say  we  made  a  great  many,  for  though  the 
law  only  allowed  one  man  one  claim,  there  were  ways  of 
evading  it ;  the  commonest  being  to  put  them  in  the 
names  of  nominees.  At  last  we  came  to  Cedar  Creek, 
along  which  the  lands  were  very  fine  ;  deep  alluvial  soil, 
well  timbered,  but  not  so  heavily  as  to  make  the  clearing 
of  it  difficult.  There  we  camped,  sheltered  from  the 
piercing  cold  of  the  open  prairies,  in  a  snug  hollow. 
The  river  was  full  of  fish  and  "  soft  turtle,"  game  was 
abundant,  and  we  fared  sumptuously.  So  we  stayed 
in  this  paradise  for  some  time,  each  man  making  one, 
or  more,  claims. 

Mine  was  close  to  the  river,  in  a  beautiful  spot,  and 
we  put  up  on  it  a  substantial  cabin  to  serve  as  head 
quarters  for  the  whole  party  whilst  we  were  looking  after, 
and  guarding,  our  various  claims  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Then  we  struck  across  the  prairie  to  the  trail  from  Santa 
Fe  to  Independence,  making  more  claims  as  we  went. 
Then,  having  taken  up  as  much  land  as  satisfied  even 
us,  if  we  could  only  hold  on  to  the  half  of  it,  returned 
to  Cedar  Creek. 

There  we  left  a  curious  old  fellow,  who  went  by  the 
name  of  "  Shad  "  (if  he  ever  had  any  other  it  had  been 
lost),  with  a  generous  supply  of  corn-meal,  bacon,  and 
whiskey,  to  look  after  our  interests,  a  young  fellow 
volunteering  to  stay  with  him.  The  old  fellow  (no  one 
knew  how  old  he  really  was)  had  spent  all  his  life  on 
the  frontier  ;  Indian  fighting,  claim-rushing,  and  such 
like  were  commonplace  events  to  him.  Tall  and  spare, 
with  a  wrinkled  parchment-like  face,  he  must  have  been 
sixty,  or  seventy  years  old,  but  was  as  active  as  a  young 
man,  and  as  tough  as  leather. 

For  Indians,  and  such  "  varmin,"  as  he  called  them,  he 
had  a  great  contempt,  and,  in  his  cups,  would  boast  that 
the  Redskin  didn't  live  who  could  "  raise  his  h'ar."    I  be 
lieve  he  was  right,  and  that  he  died  with  it  on  his  head. 

7 


98    CLAIM-MAKING    AND    SQUATTER    RIGHTS 

In  Shad's  efficient  guardianship  then  we  left  our  head 
quarters,  and  the  rest  of  us  returned  to  Leaven  worth, 
crossing  the  Kansas  River  on  the  ice,  which  by  this  time 
was  pretty  rotten,  and  let  us  all  in,  wagon  included. 
It  was  a  terribly  freezing  bath,  I  remember,  but  we 
scrambled  out  somehow  in  safety. 

Though  the  "  war  "  had  been  put  a  stop  to  for 
some  time,  political  excitement  ran  very  high.  The 
Southern  party,  owing  to  Washington  influence,  was  in 
the  ascendant  still,  though  the  Free  State  party  was 
slowly  but  surely  gaining  ground. 

Throughout  the  South,  where  he  was  well  known,  few 
men  were  more  respected,  or  more  worthy  of  respect 
than  Judge  Lecompton,  who  was  the  head  of  such 
justiciary  as  existed  in  those  parts.  In  the  North,  such 
is  the  evil  power  of  partisanship,  he  was  denounced 
as  a  second  Judge  Jeffreys,  for  whom  hanging  was 
too  good.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  was  an  able 
judge,  and  an  upright,  honourable  man.  With  his 
wife  and  family  he  lived  in  a  double  log  cabin  near 
Leavenworth,  and  there  offered  to  all  his  friends,  of 
whom  I  was  one,  a  simple  and  refined  hospitality 
which  was  as  pleasant  as  it  was  rare  in  that  wild 
country. 

The  remainder  of  that  winter  I  spent  in  Leavenworth 
settling  up  my  affairs,  or  riding  about  the  Shawnee 
country  looking  after  my  claims. 

Early  in  the  following  spring  an  event  happened 
which  changed  all  the  future  course  of  my  life,  and 
eventually  landed  me  in  Texas,  nearly  as  wild  a  land 
as  the  wild  West  that  I  had  to  leave. 

In  Kansas  in  those  days,  as  I  have,  I  think,  shown, 
every  man  was  a  law  unto  himself  ;  and  if  he  had 
suffered  wrong,  his  own  right  hand  alone  could  get 
him  redress.  In  the  story  I  am  about  to  tell  I  came 
very  near  killing  a  man,  and,  though  I  had  suffered 
much  at  his  hands,  and  he  was  a  big  ruffian  and  bully 


A    POT-VALIANT    CONSTABLE  99 

whose  death  would  have  saved  me  great  trouble  and 
heavy  loss,  I  do  not  regret  that  I  spared  his  life  when 
he  was  at  my  mercy. 

It  was  about  the  beginning  of  March,  I  think,  that 
Merril  Smith  (otherwise  Missouri  Smith)  came  and  told 
me  that  he  had  sufficient  evidence  to  lay  an  information 
against  the  man  Cline  for  horse-stealing  and  threatening 
to  kill.  Now  Cline  had  been  a  very  active  member  of 
the  party,  under  Everard,  who  had  captured  Smith  and 
myself  at  Falk's  ranch,  when  my  friend  Margaret 
Hendricks  saved  our  lives.  If  he  had  had  his  way  we 
should  no  doubt  have  been  hanged  pretty  promptly  ; 
and  it  was  he  who  insisted  that,  if  we  were  let  go, 
our  horses,  arms,  and  accoutrements  should  be  taken 
from  us.  We  therefore  had  rather  a  heavy  score 
against  him,  and  I,  for  one,  was  not  unwilling  to  be 
quits  with  him.  So  I  agreed  to  lend  Smith  a  hand  to 
arrest  him. 

A  warrant  having  been  issued  in  Leaven  worth,  we  rode 
off,  armed  with  our  six-shooters,  to  a  small  settlement 
on  the  Stranger  Creek,  near  which  Cline  had  a  farm, 
to  find  a  constable  named  Pearson,  who  was  to  effect 
the  arrest.  It  was  quite  late  when  we  found  Pearson, 
and  when  we  told  him  our  errand  he  at  once  declined 
the  business,  saying  the  man  was  a  desperado  who  had 
quite  recently  shot  two  men,  and  would  certainly  shoot 
him  if  he  tried  to  capture  him.  However,  we  plied  our 
man  liberally  with  whiskey  till  he  became  pot-valiant 
and  at  last  consented  to  serve  the  warrant,  if  we  would 
protect  him. 

The  next  day  was  a  Sunday,  and  it  was  known  that 
Cline  would  be  present  at  a  "  preaching  "  to  be  held  at  a 
cabin  about  ten  miles  up  the  creek.  We  got  our  constable 
off  in  pretty  good  time,  but  he  was  evidently  in  a  blue 
funk,  and  would  have  turned  tail  if  he  had  had  a  chance. 
For  my  own  part  I  confess  I  did  not  like  the  job,  but 
having  once  started  on  it,  one  could  not  turn  back ;  even 


100    CLAIM-MAKING    AND    SQUATTER    RIGHTS 

at  the  risk  of  being  shot,  one  must  in  honour  go  on. 
Moreover  I  was  pretty  certain  that  if  any  fighting  was 
to  be  done  the  lion's  share  would  fall  to  my  lot,  and 
that  was  not  pleasant. 

Smith  and  Pearson  hitched  their  horses  to  the  snake 
fence  of  the  cabin,  and  I  dismounted  and  stood  with  my 
reins  over  my  left  arm,  about  twenty  paces  from  the  door. 
Under  the  cavalry  cloak  I  wore,  I  held  my  six-shooter 
ready  for  action,  and  Smith  stood  near  me.  Pearson, 
as  agreed,  walked  into  the  cabin  to  tell  Cline  some  one 
wanted  to  see  him  about  buying  some  of  his  corn.  As 
soon  as  the  door  was  opened  we  could  see  the  shanty 
was  full  of  people.  Loud  and  angry  voices  were  heard, 
and  presently  Pearson  emerged  followed  by  Cline  and 
three  or  four  of  the  latter's  friends.  Directly  he  saw 
who  wanted  him  he  stopped,  and  the  constable,  with 
trembling  hand,  pulled  out  the  warrant. 

The  moment  he  began  to  read  it,  Cline  vowed  he 
wouldn't  be  taken  by  us,  or  twenty  men  like  us  ;  declared, 
with  many  oaths,  I  was  everything  vile  and  bad,  and 
ought  to  have  been  hanged  long  ago,  and  that,  if  I  didn't 
clear  out,  he  would  shoot  me  like  a  dog.  By  this  time 
he  had  got  his  six-shooter  out,  and  there  was  no  time 
to  be  lost  if  I  wanted  first  innings.  I  had  him  covered 
at  the  time,  but  was  loath  to  fire  unless  obliged  to. 

It  was  now  or  never  I  saw,  his  life  or  mine,  and,  as  I 
naturally  preferred  my  own,  I  let  drive  two  barrels,  and 
hit  my  man  in  the  right  arm  and  side.  Down  he  fell, 
and  the  bullet  he  had  meant  for  my  head  whistled 
high  over  it.  Pearson,  who  held  the  man  in  great 
dread,  shouted  to  me  to  fire  again,  and  finish  him  ; 
but  I  couldn't  shoot  a  helpless  man  on  the  ground, 
blackguard  as  he  was. 

Now  it  was  high  time  we  were  off,  for  at  the  sound  of 
the  firing  some  twenty  men  had  rushed  out  of  the 
cabin,  some  with  shotguns  and  six-shooters,  and  others 
with  "  rocks "  in  their  hands.  Pearson  was  already 


A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE  101 

up  and  away  ;  but  Smith's  mount,  which  by-the-bye 
was  a  mule,  had  broken  loose,  and  perforce  I  had  to 
wait  for  him.  Pulling  up  by  the  side  of  a  log,  Smith 
scrambled  up  behind  me,  and  away  we  went  for  dear  life, 
as  hard  as  my  good  mare  could  gallop.  It  was  a  close 
shave,  for  the  enemy  fired  a  volley  after  us,  but  missed 
us  clean. 

At  the  Stranger  Creek  settlement  Smith  got  a  horse, 
and  we  rode  on  to  Leavenworth,  where  my  friends  of 
the  pro-Slavery  party  gave  me  quite  an  ovation  for 
shooting  Cline,  though  it  was  the  general  opinion  that 
I  ought  to  have  finished  thoroughly  what  I  had  so  well 
begun. 

As  to  our  friend  the  constable,  it  was  said  that  he 
never  stopped  till  he  had  put  the  Missouri  between 
himself  and  danger,  so  terrified  was  he  at  what  Cline's 
friends  might  do  to  him  ! 

Of  the  man  himself  I  presently  heard  that,  though 
very  seriously  hurt,  he  might  pull  through  ;  next  that 
he  was  well  enough  to  be  sent  to  his  friends  in  New 
York,  and  would  certainly  recover.  I  soon  found  that 
no  steps  would  be  taken  against  me  on  account  of  this 
little  affair,  but  I  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  Leavenworth 
and  settle  in  Johnson  County,  across  the  Kansas  River 
in  the  Shawnee  country,  intending  to  make  my  claim 
on  Cedar  Creek  my  headquarters.  Forth  I  fared  then, 
with  my  wagon  and  pair  of  horses,  my  saddle-horse, 
provisions,  whiskey,  arms  and  blankets,  taking  with  me 
four  of  my  claim-making  party.  These  were  named 
Shoemaker,  Mike  Macnamara  William  Hitchcock,  and 
Wash  Gobel,  who  all  agreed  to  stand  by  me  whatever 
happened.  Shad  and  the  young  carpenter  were 
already  at  the  camp. 

I  found  that  things  were  moving  fast  indeed  in  the 
reserve,  and  that  joining  the  claim  I  had  made  on  the 
Laramie  and  Kansas  City  road,  a  town  had  been  laid 
out,  which  had  been  named  Monticello,  and  that  a 


102    CLAIM-MAKING    AND    SQUATTER    RIGHTS 

tavern,  groggery,  and  several  shanties  were  in  course 
of  erection.  Furthermore  that  my  claim  had  been 
jumped  by  a  party  of  Missourians,  who  had  put  up 
thereon  a  little  frame  cabin,  where  they  sold  whiskey, 
tobacco,  etc. 

I  rode  over  at  once  and  warned  these  folks  that  they 
were  trespassing  on  my  land,  and  that  I  meant  to  main 
tain  my  squatter  rights  at  all  hazards.  They  refused 
to  move,  but  about  a  month  afterwards  three  of  my 
boys  rode  over  one  night  from  Cedar  Creek,  and  so 
scared  the  two  men  left  in  charge  of  the  shanty  that 
they  moved  out  the  little  "  plunder "  they  had,  and 
the  boys  burnt  the  cabin  and  restored  my  old  foundation. 
So  far  so  good,  but  hereafter  I  was  to  have  a  tougher 
job  than  I  thought  for  to  maintain  my  rights  over  this 
desirable  property,  and  it  eventually  landed  me  in  a 
lawsuit,  of  which  more  anon. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   FRAY    AT   MONTICELLO 

ALL  the  early  part  of  that  spring  and  summer  I  was 
busy  making  claims,  and  disposing  of  others,  for  which 
I  got  prices  varying  from  $50  to  $500.  It  was  a  free 
and  easy  time,  with  plenty  of  hunting  and  fishing,  and 
the  life  was  pleasant  enough. 

But  now  I  bethought  me  it  was  time  to  settle  down, 
and  make  myself  a  permanent  dwelling-place.  I  was 
then  twenty-seven  years  of  age ;  getting  quite  old, 
and  all  my  life  I  had  been  a  wanderer  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  !  I  would  build  me  a  house  on  my  1 60-acre 
claim  at  Monticello,  and  wander  no  more — at  least 
for  a  time. 

At  once  I  set  to  work  to  haul  out  the  necessary  timber, 
which  my  hands  cut  on  Cedar  Creek,  and  in  a  short  time 
we  had  a  very  comfortable  one-story  log  cabin  put  up, 
with  some  chimneys.  It  was  quite  a  mansion  for  those 
parts,  with  four  rooms  in  it ;  and  behind  it  good  log 
stables  and  "  corn-cribs."  When  all  was  finished,  I 
gave  a  house-warming  party  to  all  the  folks  in  the  neigh 
bourhood.  About  twenty  of  us  danced  all  night  to 
the  music  of  a  couple  of  violins,  and  nearly  wore  out 
our  musicians  ;  for  when  we  did  dance  out  in  the  West, 
we  kept  it  up  with  vigour,  and  polkas  and  cotillions 
followed  each  other  without  much  pause,  except  for 
refreshment. 

So  that  summer  passed  away  without  any  incident 
particularly  worth  recording,  and  in  the  autumn,  I 

103 


104  THE    FRAY    AT    MONTICELLO 

forget  the  exact  day,  the  President's  proclamation  was 
issued  throwing  open  the  Shawnee  lands  for  pre-emption. 
Though  I  had  already  built  a  substantial  house  on  the 
claim,  I  had  of  course  to  comply  with  the  requirements 
of  the  law,  and  lay  a  foundation  on  it,  on  the  day  named  ; 
and  that  before  any  one  else  could  do  so,  or  I  should 
lose  my  right  to  it.  The  logs  for  the  foundation  were 
all  cut,  and  laid  ready,  so  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  put 
them  together.  At  daybreak,  on  the  day  appointed,  I 
was  engaged  on  this,  with  my  six-shooter  in  my  belt, 
and  had  all  but  finished,  when  I  was  aware  of  quite  a 
party  of  men  marching  along  bearing  four  logs  between 
them. 

I  walked  over  to  them,  and  told  them  quietly  they 
were  trespassing  on  my  claim,  and  that  if  they  attempted 
to  lay  a  foundation  I  would  use  what  force  I  could  to 
stop  them,  as  I  was  first  in  the  field,  and  had  already 
complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  law. 

"  You  use  threats,  do  you  ?  "  said  the  leader  of  the 
party.  "  I  threaten  no  one,  but  I  don't  think  it  will 
be  healthy  for  you  to  steal  my  property,"  I  answered. 

There  was  a  good  deal  more  wrangling,  and  at  one 
time  it  seemed  as  though  they  meant  to  fight — they 
were  five  to  one — but  at  last  they  cleared  out,  saying 
they  should  apply  to  the  U.S.  Court  for  pre-emption, 
as  they  had  been  prevented  by  my  threats  from  laying 
their  foundation.  This  they  eventually  did,  and  I  had 
to  fight  them  in  the  Court  for  the  claim. 

Later  on  that  fall,  I  took  service  with  the  great 
freighting  firm  of  Major  &  Russell,  as  wagon-master. 
Major  we  knew  nothing  of — probably  he  was  a  sleeping- 
partner — but  "  Billy  "  Russell,  as  he  was  commonly 
called,  was  quite  a  power  in  the  West,  and  at  Washing 
ton  too,  for  the  matter  of  that.  He  owned  some  20,000 
working  cattle  and  about  2,000  wagons,  or  "  prairie 
schooners,"  and  did  all  the  freighting  west  of  the  Mis 
souri  River  to  the  military  posts  and  forts  in  the  Indian 


FREIGHTING    ON    THE    PRAIRIES         105 

country.  It  was  he  who  started  the  "  Pony  Express," 
carrying  mails,  by  relays  of  horses,  through  the  hostile 
Indian  country  to  the  outlying  stations. 

It  was  a  risky  employment,  fit  only  for  a  daring  and 
resourceful  man  to  engage  in  :  for  the  Indians  kept 
a  sharp  look-out  for  the  Express  in  those  days,  and 
killed  many  of  the  men.  William  Cody,  so  well  known 
since  as  Colonel  Cody,  or  "  Buffalo  Bill,"  was  one  of  his 
first  riders,  and  perhaps  the  most  successful  of  all. 

My  first  trip  as  wagon-master  was  from  "  St.  Joe," 
where  we  loaded  up,  to  the  forts  on  the  "  Big  Blue."  I 
had  seventy-five  wagons,  each  drawn  by  eight  yoke 
of  cattle,  a  driver  to  each  team,  and  twelve  spare  men. 
Under  me  was  an  assistant  wagon-master,  and  I  had 
two  horses  for  myself,  and  about  a  dozen  supernumerary 
ones.  Each  "  schooner,"  which  was  a  lumping  great 
thing  with  a  body  about  twenty  feet  long,  carried  a 
load  of  four  to  five  tons  of  goods.  The  whole  train  on 
the  march,  in  single  file,  would  occupy  a  length  of  about 
If  miles  ;  more  of  course  if  the  ground  was  boggy,  and 
any  of  the  teams  lagged.  So  it  was  no  easy  task  to  keep 
an  eye  on  them  all.  It  meant  pretty  hard  riding  from 
morning  till  night. 

At  or  before  nightfall  we  made  a  laager,  or  "  corral " 
as  we  called  it,  to  guard  against  Indian  attacks.  It 
was  made  in  this  way  : 

The  leading  wagon  was  unyoked,  and  the  fore-carriage 
turned  at  a  slight  angle  inwards  ;  the  next  wagon  was 
drawn  up  as  close  as  possible  to  it,  with  its  hind  wheels 
on  a  level  with  the  front  wheels  of  the  first,  till  a  rough 
circle  was  formed.  The  cattle-chains  were  then  run 
from  the  wheel  of  one  wagon  to  the  wheel  of  that  in 
front  of  it,  and  the  corral  was  formed.  Inside  this  the 
cattle  were  unyoked  and,  if  there  were  no  Indian  signs 
about,  turned  out  to  graze  under  charge  of  a  couple 
of  herders. 

Of  course,  with  *  strong  party  like  mine  all  well  armed, 


106  THE    FRAY    AT    MONTICELLO 

there  wasn't  much  fear  that  the  Indians  would  attack, 
as  long  as  proper  precautions  were  taken  and  a  good 
look-out  kept ;  the  greatest  risk  was  that  they  might 
stampede  your  cattle  at  night,  and  leave  you  stranded 
on  the  prairie. 

Road,  properly  speaking,  there  was  none,  only  a  track 
some  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  made  by  successive  trains. 
It  was  usually  easy  enough  going  over  the  prairie, 
especially  as  there  was  a  bitter  frost,  and  the  ground 
was  hard  frozen.  But  every  now  and  then  a  deep 
creek  would  have  to  be  crossed,  with  a  muddy  bottom, 
and  the  whole  lot  of  wagons  must  be  hauled  through, 
one  by  one,  with  perhaps  three  or  four  teams  to  each. 
The  long  line  of  cattle  would  be  yoked  on,  and  stretched 
to  right  or  left  ("  haw  "  or  "  gee,"  it  was  called),  nearly 
at  right  angles  to  the  wagon  ;  the  drivers  with  their 
whips  then  swung  the  cattle  over  to  left  or  right,  as 
the  case  might  be,  and  the  wagon  was  bound  to  come 
out  by  the  sheer  weight  of  the  teams,  unless,  as  some 
times  happened,  the  tongue  drew  out  of  the  body. 

I  was  absent  several  weeks  on  this  trip,  and  enjoyed  it 
much  ;  the  only  drawback  being  the  intense  cold,  which 
almost  froze  one  at  night.  My  pay  was  $100  a  month, 
and  all  found  ;  so  I  was  well  satisfied,  and  I  think  Russell 
was  too,  for  he  at  once  engaged  me  to  look  after  a  big 
lot  of  cattle  he  had  wintering  at  Lone  Jack,  about  sixty 
miles  from  my  ranch.  The  distance  was  nothing,  and 
I  gladly  accepted  the  employment  at  $75  a  month. 

If  there  was  plenty  of  hard  work,  there  was  plenty  of 
fun  going  too,  and  many  a  good  dance  we  had  that 
winter.  We  all  of  us,  girls  as  well  as  men,  had  to  ride 
long  distances  to  many  of  these,  through  the  keen  frosty 
air,  and  the  rides  were  almost  as  good  fun  as  the  dances. 
One  of  these,  I  particularly  remember,  was  held  at  Olathy, 
the  county  seat  of  Johnson  County,  on  New  Year's  Eve. 
The  occasion  was  the  opening  of  a  new  hotel  at  this 
place,  which  was  about  ten  miles  from  Monticello.  I 


I    AM    IN    FOR    A    FIGHT!  107 

got  together  a  party  of  five  girls  and  seven  or  eight 
young  fellows,  all  well  mounted. 

It  was  a  lovely  starlit  night,  with  an  intense  frost, 
and  six  inches  of  snow  on  the  ground.  All  were  in  the 
wildest  of  spirits,  and  the  gallop  over  the  level  trackless 
prairie  was  delightful. 

At  the  hotel  we  found  quite  a  big  gathering,  and  as 
soon  as  the  ladies  had  divested  themselves  of  their  wraps 
we  were  all  hard  at  work  at  the  cotillions  and  polkas. 
Our  host  had  provided  an  excellent  supper,  and  of  course 
liquid  refreshments  were  in  abundance.  Everything 
was  going  off  capitally  and,  what  is  more,  peacefully, 
till  the  bully  of  the  place,  a  man  named  Cosgrove,  of 
whom  I  had  often  heard,  but  had  never  met  before, 
picked  a  quarrel  with  me  in  the  most  unprovoked  manner. 
Probably  he  had  a  cargo  of  whiskey  on  board,  or  wouldn't 
have  done  it. 

I  was  standing  at  the  bar  downstairs  with  some  friends, 
when  this  fellow  began,  with  many  very  forcible  oaths, 
and  in  a  loud  voice,  to  say  there  was  a  man  from  Monti- 
cello  he  meant  to  "  whip  "  that  night.  He  fixed  his  eye 
on  me  as  he  spoke,  and  I  knew  I  was  in  for  a  fight.  That 
being  so,  the  sooner  it  was  over  the  better  ;  so  I  stepped 
across  to  him,  asking  my  friends  to  see  fair  play,  and 
told  him  he  wanted  a  lesson  in  manners,  and  I  would 
give  it  him. 

He  rushed  at  me  to  clinch,  throw,  and  probably,  after 
the  manner  of  his  kind,  to  gouge  me  if  he  could.  Luckily 
I  was  too  quick  for  him,  met  him  with  a  straight  left 
hander  between  the  eyes,  and  sent  him,  with  a  heavy 
fall,  against  the  stove  at  the  end  of  the  bar.  He  cut  his 
head  pretty  badly  against  the  ironwork,  and  wanted 
no  more  fighting  that  night.  I  think  every  one  was 
pleased  that  the  bully  had  got  his  lesson,  for  he  wasn't 
nearly  so  quarrelsome  after  it,  and  I  was  looked  upon 
rather  as  a  hero  by  the  girls,  for  taking  the  bounce  out 
of  him.  So  easily  is  fame  won  ! 


108  THE    FRAY    AT    MONTTCELLO 

At  many  of  the  dances  I  have  spoken  of,  I  often  met 
Shawnee  half-breed  girls,  daughters,  some  of  them,  of 
well-to-do  people  and  fairly  well  educated,  others  hardly 
"  tame."  Amongst  the  first  I  remember  the  two  Choteau 
girls,  and  Mary  Owens  and  Sally  Blue  Jacket.  They 
all  dressed  like  other  Western  belles,  and  were  good 
dancers  ;  but  some  of  them  were  prone  to  take  a  little 
too  much  whiskey.  Once  when  dancing  with  Sally  Blue 
Jacket,  who  was  a  remarkably  handsome  girl,  I  remember 
the  lady  pulled  a  flask  of  whiskey  out  of  her  pocket,  and 
pressed  me  to  join  her  in  a  drink.  It  would  have  been 
rude  to  refuse  so  delicate  an  attention,  from  so  charming 
a  partner,  and  I  of  course  accepted  the  offer. 

However  much  I  might  be  occupied,  I  never  lost  sight 
of  my  farm  work,  and  during  three  months  of  that  winter 
kept  hands  cutting  timber,  and  splitting  it  for  rails. 
These  either  Shoemaker  or  I  hauled  across  the  prairie 
about  two  miles  from  the  Shawnee  lands,  until  I  had 
enough  to  build  a  "  worm  "  fence,  eight  rails  high,  round 
eighty  acres.  It  was  a  mighty  lot  of  rails,  and  the  haul 
ing  of  them  alone  was  heavy  work,  but  the  doing  of 
it  was  a  pleasure,  for  when  the  fence  was  up  I  felt  I 
should  have  made  a  valuable  property  of  my  beautiful 
claim,  especially  when  I  had  ploughed  and  planted 
my  eighty  acres  in  the  coming  spring. 

Amongst  the  curious  scenes  I  witnessed  about  this 
time,  the  most  curious  was  the  hanging,  by  his  own 
people,  of  a  Shawnee  Indian  who  was  supposed  to  have 
committed  a  murder.  Though  his  crime  was  in  reality 
a  mild  form  of  manslaughter,  the  Shawnee  council, 
which  by  U.S.  law  had  the  power  of  life  and  death 
over  its  own  people,  wished  to  maintain  and  exercise 
this  right,  and  so  insisted  on  hanging  the  poor  wretch. 
Not  that  he  seemed  to  mind  it  in  the  least,  for  he  was 
the  least  excited  of  all  the  performers  in  the  tragedy. 
The  platform  under  the  gallows,  in  which  was  the 
drop,  was  occupied  by  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  and  local 


INDIAN    STOICISM  109 

preachers,  who,  for  about  two  hours  or  so,  "  improved 
the  occasion,"  whilst  the  victim  sat  in  a  chair,  appa 
rently  utterly  indifferent  to  what  was  going  on  around 
him.  Round  the  gallows  stood  a  crowd  of  white  men 
and  some  Indians. 

The  former  threatened  a  rescue,  and  frequently  called 
upon  the  doomed  man,  who  sat  on  his  chair  unbound, 
to  jump,  and  they  would  save  him.  Though  these  calls 
were  made  in  his  own  tongue,  and  he  must  have  under 
stood  them,  he  gave  them  no  heed  whatever,  but  sat 
impassive  as  a  statue. 

When  the  preachers  had  exhausted  their  eloquence 
and  came  to  a  pause,  the  man  rose,  placed  himself  on 
the  drop  still  unbound,  and  waited  for  the  rope  to  be 
adjusted.  A  white  man  named  Paris  married  to  an 
Indian  squaw,  who  was  the  Shawnee  sheriff,  stepped 
forward,  slipped  the  rope  over  his  head,  drew  the  bolt, 
and  the  Indian  was  launched  into  eternity  without  a 
cry,  or  a  struggle,  or  effort  to  save  himself,  though  his 
hands  were  free. 

I  have  seen  many  exhibitions  of  Indian  stoicism,  and 
many  a  one  make  his  e$it  from  this  world,  but  I  never 
saw  anything  like  this  man's  calm  indifference  to 
death. 

Johnson  County  began  to  fill  up  a  bit  with  immi 
grants,  and  the  Governor  of  the  Territory  now  issued  a 
proclamation  for  the  election  of  County  officials.  Each 
"  township,"  or  district  of  six  square  miles,  had  to 
elect  three  supervisors,  one  constable,  and  one  overseer 
of  the  poor. 

The  County  Board  of  supervisors  was  something  like 
our  present  County  Councils,  but  with  greater  powers. 
It  consisted  of  the  senior  supervisors  of  each  township, 
who  also  had  magisterial  powers  in  their  own  locality. 
I  "  ran "  for  supervisor  in  the  Monticello  township, 
and  being  elected  at  the  head  of  the  poll,  became  a 
member  of  the  County  Board.  We  received  $3  a  day 


110  THE    FRAY    AT    MONTICELLO 

pay  whilst  in  attendance  at  the  Board,  which  met  at 
Olathy  once  a  month. 

When  my  house  at  Monticello  was  finished,  the  "  boys  " 
made   it   the   headquarters  of   a  Squatters'   Association, 
formed  to  protect  our  mutual  claim-interests,  and  elected 
me  president.     We  met  there  regularly  once  a  week  for 
the  transaction  of  business,  and  often  besides  this  there 
would  be  quite  a  gathering  at  the  ranch  on  a  Sunday 
for  hymn-singing,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  violin  and 
accordion.     It  may  seem  strange  that  men  so  rough  and 
hardened,    so  inured    to  bloodshed  that  they  thought 
no  more  of  shooting  a  man  in  some  trumpery  quarrel 
than  a  jack  rabbit,  should  have  been  amenable  to  such 
influences,  which  for  the  moment,  at  any  rate,  softened 
and  subdued  their  wild  natures.     But  so  it  was,   and 
an  atmosphere  of  peace  and  quietness  reigned  at  those 
gatherings  that  was  a  complete   contrast  to  our  every 
day  life. 

I  suppose  even  the  roughest  and  hardest  had  a  tender 
spot  somewhere  in  his  nature,  and  that  the  hymns 
we  sang  touched  chords  in  our  hearts  that  vibrated  to 
memories  of  bygone  days  and  other  scenes  ;  I  know 
they  did  in  mine. 

About  this  period  I  was  much  away  from  Monticello, 
looking  after  William  Russell's  cattle  ranches,  on  which 
he  kept  fifteen  thousand  head  of  work-cattle,  or  there 
about.  These,  of  course,  were  scattered  over  wide  dis 
tances,  and  as  I  had  to  look  them  all  up  at  intervals,  I 
was  almost  constantly  in  the  saddle. 

On  my  return  from  one  of  these  journeys  I  found  my 
best  hand,  poor  Shoemaker,  in  a  very  serious  fix.  He 
had  accidentally  shot  a  German  boarding-house  keeper 
named  Schleeman,  in  a  drunken  row.  It  seems  they  got 
quarrelling  in  their  cups,  and  Schleeman  brought  out  his 
shot-gun.  My  man,  after  a  struggle,  disarmed  him,  but 
in  the  struggle  the  gun  went  off,  and  mortally  wounded 
the  German.  He  was  alive  when  I  arrived,  but  sinking 


RIVAL   SQUATTER    ASSOCIATIONS        111 

fast.  I  went  to  see  him  at  once,  and  he  fully  exonerated 
Shoemaker  from  all  blame.  Nevertheless  his  com 
patriots,  who  were  rather  numerous  in  the  place,  were 
in  a  great  state  of  excitement,  and  it  was  all  we  of  the 
Squatters'  Association  could  do  to  prevent  their  lynching 
Shoemaker,  who  had  been  arrested,  and  was  under 
guard  in  a  room  in  the  hotel.  However,  the  Coroner's 
Jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  accidental  death,  and  a 
strong  party  of  us  carried  our  man  safely  off  to  the  ranch, 
where  he  remained  under  the  aegis  of  the  association  till 
the  matter  had  blown  over. 

I  have  dwelt  much  on  the  lawlessness  and  ruffianism 
prevailing  in  Kansas  in  those  days,  but  I  suppose  much 
the  same  state  of  things  existed  in  other  newly  settled 
parts  of  the  States  before  society  became  organised  and 
the  law  had  gained  sufficient  strength  to  overawe  evil 
doers.  We  certainly  were  a  law  unto  ourselves  in  Monti- 
cello,  and  stood  sadly  in  need  of  some  power  to  restrain 
our  evil  passions,  which  had  been  strongly  aroused  by 
the  conflicting  interests  of  claim  making  and  holding. 

Between  our  Squatters'  Association  and  a  rival  organi 
sation  in  Monticello,  a  very  bitter  feeling  existed,  and 
one  felt  that,  sooner  or  later,  bloodshed  would  come  of 
it.  The  leader  of  our  enemies  was  a  hotel-keeper  in  the 
town,  Miliner  by  name,  who  undoubtedly  was  a  bully 
and  ruffian  of  the  first  water  ;  just  such  a  one  as  gener 
ally  floats  to  the  surface  of  such  troubled  waters.  He 
was  backed  by  people  from  Kansas  City  and  from  Mis 
souri,  to  whom  the  desirable  claims  we  held  amongst  us 
were  as  so  many  Naboth's  vineyards.  I  don't  pretend 
that  all  the  right  was  on  our  side,  and  all  the  wrong  on 
theirs  ;  it  was  a  mixed  matter,  like  everything  in  this 
world  is,  but  it  was  their  "  tall  talk  "  and  threats  that 
led  to  the  row  I  am  going  to  describe. 

Two  of  our  "  boys  "  had  been  distinctly  threatened 
that  if  they  ventured  into  Monticello  they  would  be 
shot  down.  This  was  too  much  for  my  hot-bloods  to 


112  THE    FRAY    AT   MONTICELLO 

endure  quietly  ;  so  one  Sunday  morning,  stirred  up 
thereto  by  one  Molesby,  the  most  absolutely  fearless 
man  I  think  I  ever  met,  they  determined  to  have  it  out 
with  Miliner  and  his  crew.  1  did  all  I  could  to  dissuade 
them,  but  in  vain  ;  so  of  course  I  had  to  go  too. 

Sunday  out  West  was  little  observed,  unless  there  was 
a  "  preaching "  going  on,  and  stores  and  groggeries 
generally  did  a  brisker  trade  on  that  day  than  on  others. 
So  when  we  walked  across  to  Monticello  there  were 
plenty  of  loafers  about,  eager  to  report  to  my  party  of 
seven  the  threats  Miliner  and  company  had  that  very 
day  made  against  us. 

We  halted  behind  Riche's  store,  which  stood  on  one 
side  of  the  square,  opposite  Miliner 's  hotel.  Peering 
cautiously  round  the  corner,  we  could  see  the  barrels  of 
several  shot-guns  protruding  from  an  upstairs  window  of 
the  hotel,  which  completely  commanded  the  approach. 
It  looked  like  certain  death,  for  some  of  us  at  any  rate, 
to  attack  such  a  position,  and  again  I  tried  to  dissuade 
them  from  it.  But  Molesby  particularly  was  "  mad," 
and  vowed  that,  if  no  one  would  go  with  him,  he  alone 
and  unaided  would  "  clear  out  the  shop."  The  man's 
daring  was  infectious,  and,  against  my  better  sense,  I 
said,  "  We  have  no  chance,  but  you  sha'n't  go  alone." 
Then  three  others,  of  whom  Shoemaker  was  one,  ranged 
themselves  by  our  side. 

We  five  then  dashed  across  the  open  space,  which 
might  be  some  thirty  yards,  as  hard  as  we  could  run, 
making  for  the  bar-room  door  below  the  window  where 
the  guns  were  posted.  Once  in  we  would  storm  the 
staircase,  and  make  things  lively  for  Miliner  and  his 
friends. 

Molesby  and  I  led  ;  close  behind  ran  the  other  three. 
We  got  half-way  across,  when  a  volley  was  fired  from  the 
window  ;  Molesby  sprang  into  the  air  and  fell  riddled 
with  slugs,  whilst  the  rest  of  us  dashed  into  the  open  door 
for  cover.  There  for  a  few  minutes  we  stood  irresolute, 


THE    DEATH    OF   MOLESBY  113 

not  knowing  what  to  do.  Molesby,  poor  fellow,  who 
had  urged  us  to  the  fray,  lay  motionless  in  the  square, 
his  rifle  thrown  far  from  him  in  his  death-spring,  but 
still  grasping  his  six-shooter. 

Upstairs  all  was  still ;  the  enemy  didn't  seem  to  relish 
the  idea  of  coming  down  to  attack  us,  nor,  if  the  truth 
must  be  told,  did  we,  as  soon  as  we  had  cooled  a  bit,  like 
the  task  of  storming  that  stairway.  So  after  a  time  a 
truce  was  made,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  three 
of  Miliner's  party  to  whom  I  was  known,  and  we  were 
allowed  to  depart  unmolested,  and  to  carry  off  our  dead 
comrade  with  us.  A  blessed  relief  it  was  to  our  em 
barrassment  too,  for  we  were  like  rats  in  a  hole  with  no 
exit,  except  by  way  of  that  staircase  ! 

Poor  Molesby  had  twenty  buckshot  wounds,  and  I, 
who  was  close  to  him  when  the  volley  was  fired,  had 
three  shots  through  the  loose  dragoon  cape  I  was  wearing, 
so  had  a  very  narrow  escape. 

The  dead  man  owned  a  prairie  claim,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  Monticello,  the  dispute  about  which  was  the 
chief  cause  of  the  quarrel  that  led  to  his  death.  There 
I  had  a  grave  dug  for  him,  though  Miliner  and  his  gang 
swore  they  would  not  permit  us  to  bury  him  in  it.  Ten 
of  us,  however,  all  well  armed,  laid  him  to  rest  in  the 
place  we  had  chosen  for  his  last  home,  and  I,  with  a  sad 
enough  heart,  read  the  burial  service  over  him. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    CAPTURE    OF   MILINER 

EARLY  in  the  spring  of  1858  I  started  ploughing,  or 
"  breaking,"  my  eighty  acres  of  prairie  land.  I  was 
the  possessor  of  two  breaking-ploughs,  each  of  which 
was  worked  by  three  yoke  of  cattle  ;  with  one  I  broke 
my  land  myself,  and  the  other  I  let  out  at  $3  a  day. 
The  ploughs  cut  a  width  of  thirty  inches,  and  the  Indian 
corn  was  sown  in  the  turned-over  sod  by  chopping 
a  hole  and  dropping  in  the  grain.  By  this  primitive 
culture  I  got  a  fine  crop  of  twenty-five  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre  ;  and  between  the  rows  had  a  fine  lot  of  water 
melons,  pumpkins,  and  cucumbers. 

In  June  that  year  I  had  my  first  experience  of  a  Western 
tornado.  It  was  on  a  Sunday,  and  there  was  a  "  preach 
ing  "  at  Judge  Reid's  in  Monticello,  which  I  attended. 
The  heat  had  been  most  oppressive  all  the  morning,  and 
by  three  o'clock  the  sky  had  darkened  and  it  was  almost 
suffocating,  for  not  a  breath  of  air  was  stirring.  The 
people  in  the  town  stood  about  in  groups,  wondering 
what  was  coming.  I  had  dined  with  the  Judge,  and 
when  it  was  evident  a  terrific  storm  was  brewing,  I  invited 
all  present  to  come  over  to  my  place,  where  they  would  be 
safer  in  my  one-storied  log  cabin  than  in  their  flimsy 
frame  houses.  They  most  of  them  accepted,  and  we 
hurried  across  to  the  ranch  and  were  only  just  in  time. 

Down  came  the  rain  in  bucketfuls,  a  perfect  deluge 
of  water,  the  sound  of  which  drowned  our  voices.  Sud 
denly  it  ceased,  and  for  a  minute  or  two  silence  reigned. 

114 


A   WESTERN   TORNADO  116 

Then  came  the  wind,  with  an  appalling  roar.  It  seemed 
to  shake  the  cabin  to  its  very  foundations,  and  for  the 
twenty  minutes  or  so  that  it  lasted,  the  girls  of  the 
party  crouched  on  the  floor,  and  we  all  expected  the  roof 
to  fall  upon  our  heads.  But  the  stout  cedar  logs  stood 
the  awful  strain,  and  not  one  of  them  was  displaced. 

Outside  in  my  yard  stood  two  great  freighting  wagons, 
or  "  prairie  schooners,"  and  they  were  carried  off,  and 
dropped  in  shreds,  over  a  distance  of  about  three  miles. 
My  log  stables  were  down,  and  quite  a  mile  of  fencing, 
the  logs  being  scattered  about  the  prairie  as  though  they 
were  straws. 

In  the  calm  that  followed  the  tornado  we  all  walked 
back  to  the  town,  to  find  it  more  or  less  in  ruins.  For 
tunately  the  casualties  were  few,  and  only  one  child  was 
actually  killed.  Curiously  enough  one  small  frame  house 
was  carried  out  of  the  town  rather  more  than  a  mile, 
and  was  little  the  worse  for  the  trip. 

The  tornado  had  swept  a  belt  of  country  forty-three 
miles  long  by  about  four  wide,  and  in  its  course  had 
uprooted  every  tree  it  encountered,  as  though  they  had 
been  reeds. 

In  the  month  of  August  the  Land  Court,  presided  over 
by  the  U.S.  Receiver  and  Registrar,  would  be  held  at 
Lecompton,  to  decide  the  conflicting  pre-emption  claims 
on  the  Shawnee  reserve,  and  I  therefore  sent  in  notice  of 
my  intention  to  pre-empt  my  Monticello  claim. 

Soon  I  received  notice  from  the  Court  that  a  merchant 
of  Kansas  City,  named  Nash,  had  filed  a  claim  to  the 
same  land,  and  that  the  case  would  be  heard  early  in 
August.  This  man  was  leader  of  the  party  I  had  warned 
off  my  claim,  as  related  in  the  previous  chapter,  and  as 
he  was  much  incensed  against  me,  it  was  clear  I  was  in 
for  a  big  lawsuit. 

Though  my  title  to  pre-empt  the  claim,  according  to 
"squatter  right,"  and  universal  custom  in  the  West,  was 
undoubted,  for  I  had  not  only  built  a  house  thereon  and 


116  THE    CAPTURE    OF    MILINER 

lived  in  it,  but  had  complied  with  the  letter  of  the  law 
by  laying  my  foundation  on  the  day  proclaimed,  I  felt 
very  uneasy  as  to  the  result  of  the  case.  My  opponent 
was  a  wealthy  man  for  those  parts,  and,  what  was  more, 
a  man  of  influence  with  the  Free  State  party,  and  that 
counted  for  much  ;  for  these  cases  went  by  favour, 
as  much  as  by  right.  However,  it  had  to  be  fought 
out ;  so  I  got  together  my  witnesses,  six  in  number,  all 
squatters,  and  we  started  in  good  time  for  Lecompton 
from  my  ranch. 

One  of  my  friends  and  I  rode  ;  the  rest  went  in  my 
smart  two-horse  wagon,  well  "  fixed "  for  a  week's 
camping  out.  It  was  glorious  weather,  and  the  outing 
would  have  been  delightful  if  one  had  not  been  so  anxious. 
Our  first  camp  was  on  a  lagoon,  off  the  Kansas  River,  and 
we  caught  enough  fish  for  our  supper  in  half  an  hour,  with 
very  primitive  tackle.  The  next  night  we  camped  in  a 
beautifully  wooded  dell,  with  plenty  of  grass  and  water, 
about  half  a  mile  from  Lecompton,  and  then  walked  into 
the  town,  where  we  found  there  was  considerable  excite 
ment  over  my  case,  which  had  aroused  a  good  deal  of 
party  feeling. 

My  antagonist  Nash,  with  his  friends  and  witnesses, 
had  pretty  well  filled  up  the  best  hotel,  and  were  in 
dulging  in  many  sherry  cobblers,  and  much  boasting  and 
swaggering  as  to  the  result  of  the  case,  which  was  to 
come  on  on  the  morrow. 

Nash  had  the  impudence  to  ask  me  to  drink  with  him, 
and  wanted  to  shake  hands.  I  told  him  he  was  attempting 
to  perpetrate  what  he  knew  was  a  robbery,  and  that  if 
by  some  unfair  means  and  hard  swearing  he  succeeded, 
there  would  scarcely  be  room  for  both  of  us  in  Kansas. 
This  took  most  of  the  bounce  out  of  him,  and  he  troubled 
me  no  more. 

I  remember  well,  even  now,  at  this  long  distance  of 
time,  the  wondrous  beauty  of  that  night  in  the  camp. 
As  I  laid  on  my  blanket  and  watched  the  "  great  comet  " 


I    WIN   MY    CASE  117 

blaze  in  the  eastern  sky,  I  thought  I  would  not  exchange 
the  scene  for  the  finest  hotel  in  the  world. 

The  Court  sat  on  my  case  for  three  whole  days,  from 
9  a.m.  to  6  p.m.,  for  Nash  produced  quite  an  army  of 
witnesses,  who  swore  through  thick  and  thin  for  him.  As 
the  case  proceeded,  and  each  of  his  men  swore  harder 
than  the  previous  one  that  he  had  been  first  in  the  field, 
I  grew  more  uneasy  as  to  the  result.  Nash,  I  believe, 
made  sure  of  winning,  and  the  thought  of  what  might 
follow  success  seemed  to  weigh  on  his  mind,  for  many 
a  time  I  caught  his  eyes  fixed  on  me  with  a  questioning 
gaze,  as  though  he  were  wondering  whether  I  really 
meant  what  I  had  said  to  him.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he 
had,  as  it  turned  out,  no  cause  for  fear,  for  he  lost  his  case. 

The  Court  decided  in  my  favour,  and  on  payment  of 
$240  and  some  small  Court  fees  I  got  my  title  deeds, 
and  became  absolute  owner  of  the  claim.  That  night 
we  had  a  "  high  old  time  "  in  camp,  and  next  day  set  out 
on  the  return  to  Monticello  in  great  triumph.  Arrived 
there,  we  found  a  crowd  of  my  friends  at  the  ranch, 
waiting  to  congratulate  me  ;  for  the  news  of  my  success 
had  outrun  us.  We  got  up  an  impromptu  dance  that 
night,  and  celebrated  the  occasion  right  royally. 

As  I  intended  to  make  the  ranch  my  home,  for  some 
time  at  least,  I  added  to  the  house  and  sunk  a  well.  Before 
doing  so  I  called  in  a  "  water  wizard,"  who  was  highly 
thought  of  in  those  parts,  and  he  contracted  to  select  the 
proper  site  for  the  well  for  the  modest  fee  of  $5,  on  the 
principle  of  "  no  cure  no  pay."  He  stepped  about  the 
place  with  the  usual  hazel  wand  in  his  hand,  and  pre 
sently  drove  a  peg  into  the  ground,  close  by  the  house, 
assuring  me  I  should  find  water  there  at  no  great  depth. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  I  did  find  an  abundant  supply  of 
excellent  water,  at  about  twenty  feet  in  depth,  and 
cheerfully  paid  over  my  $5.  I  suppose  the  man  was  an 
impostor  ;  but  I  understand  that  many  people,  even  in 
this  enlightened  country,  believe  in  this  water-magic. 


118  THE    CAPTURE    OF    MILINER 

I  fear  the  picture  I  have  drawn  of  life  in  Kansas  forty- 
five  years  ago  may  be  thought  over-coloured  by  those 
who  know  nothing  of  the  then  state  of  society  in  the  Far 
West ;  but  I  can  assure  them  that  if  I  had  told  of  all  the 
desperate  deeds  within  my  knowlege,  but  in  which  I  was 
in  no  way  an  actor,  it  would  be  lurid  indeed.  One  more 
scene  of  brutal  and  ruthless  murder,  of  which  I  was  a 
helpless  witness,  I  must  give,  since  it  is  characteristic  of 
the  times,  and  of  a  place  where  human  life  was  held  "  at 
a  pin's  fee,"  and  also  because  I  took  great  pains,  though 
without  avail,  to  bring  the  chief  culprit  to  justice. 

It  was  in  the  month  following  my  triumph  at  Lecompton 
that  a  young  fellow  named  Walker,  whom  I  had  known 
in  Leavenworth,  rode  down  to  Monticello  on  business, 
and  then  came  on  to  my  place  to  see  if  he  could  buy 
a  yoke  of  cattle  from  me.  We  had  dinner,  and  then 
smoked  and  chatted  ;  for  the  young  fellow  wras  friendly 
and  pleasant,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  him.  Then  we  started 
out  to  cross  the  short  strip  of  prairie  between  my  house 
and  Monticello,  where  the  cattle  were  at  work. 

Walker  was  mounted  on  his  horse,  and  I  was  on  foot, 
a  little  ahead  of  him.  Both  of  us  were  unarmed  ;  he 
because  he  was  a  quiet,  inoffensive  fellow,  and  seldom 
carried  firearms,  and  I  because  I  had  a  very  painful 
whitlow  on  my  right  hand,  which  was  in  a  sling.  Things 
were  then  pretty  quiet  and  peaceful  in  Monticello,  and 
I  had  no  idea  that  Walker  had  an  enemy  there,  or 
anywhere  else.  So  we  walked  on  without  the  remotest 
suspicion  of  what  awaited  us  so  near  at  hand. 

We  had  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  when  from 
behind  Riche's  store  the  man  Miliner  and  another  named 
McDougal  suddenly  appeared  with  double-barrelled  shot 
guns  in  their  hands. 

Miliner  it  was  who  shot  poor  Molesby  in  front  of  his 
hotel ;  McDougal  had  been  for  some  time  on  friendly 
terms  with  me. 

They  halted  Walker,  and  some  words  passed  between 


UNARMED    AND    SLEEPLESS  119 

them,  the  purport  of  which  I  did  not  catch  ;  then  without 
more  ado  they  both  fired  their  shot-guns  into  the  unfortu 
nate  man.  He  fell  from  his  horse,  dead,  as  I  thought ; 
but  no,  he  was  still  alive,  and,  sorely  wounded  as  he  was, 
scrambled  to  his  feet  and  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  for  a 
small  corn-patch  close  by  the  hotel.  The  ruffian  Miliner 
fired  at  him  again,  as  he  ran  for  shelter,  but  didn't  stop 
him.  I,  all  helpless  and  unarmed  as  I  was,  could  only 
throw  up  my  arms.  The  murderers  said,  "  We  have 

no  tiling  against  you,  but  we  mean  to  finish  the  d d 

scoundrel  with  you." 

They  then  set  off  to  hunt  their  victim  out  of  his  shelter, 
whilst  several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  looked 
on,  without  daring  to  interfere,  so  terrorised  were  they 
by  these  two  ruffians.  Just  at  this  moment  two  of  my 
hay-wagons,  with  four  hands,  arrived  on  the  scene,  on 
their  way  to  my  ranch.  I  ran  down  to  them  directly, 
shouting  to  them,  as  I  ran,  to  shoot  Miliner  and 
McDougal  down.  Not  one  of  them  had  a  gun,  or  a 
six-shooter  ;  but  the  murderers  evidently  thought  they 
had,  for  they  bolted  forthwith,  and  then  the  brave 
townsfolk  turned  out  and  joined  in  the  pursuit ! 

With  one  of  my  hands  I  climbed  the  fence  into  the 
corn-patch,  whilst  poor  Walker,  who  thought  it  was  his 
murderers  coming  to  finish  their  work,  pleaded  most 
piteously  for  mercy. 

We  bore  him  as  tenderly  as  we  could  into  the  hotel,  and 
did  all  we  could  for  him,  which  was  little  enough,  for  he 
was  grievously  wounded  in  the  back  and  side,  and  died 
in  great  agony  about  ten  o'clock  that  night,  assuring  me, 
with  his  latest  breath,  that  he  had  no  idea  why  they  had 
shot  him. 

The  moment  Walker  was  safely  deposited  in  the 
hotel,  I  wrote  a  note  to  my  friends  in  Leavenworth, 
urging  them  to  at  once  bring  a  strong  and  well-armed 
party,  to  hunt  down  the  murderers.  By  3  a.m.  the 
next  morning  a  band  of  seventeen  ofjthe  "  Boys  "  were 


120  THE    CAPTURE    OF    MILINER 

at  my  ranch,  having  ridden  post  haste  to  my  summons. 
All  that  day  and  part  of  the  next  we  hunted  the 
country  for  the  villains,  but  without  success ;  for,  as 
we  heard  afterwards,  they  had  fled  into  Missouri. 
Had  they  been  caught,  "  Judge  Lynch  "  would  have 
given  them  but  short  shrift. 

Now  for  the  sequel  to  my  story,  which  is  even  more 
shameful  than  the  opening  chapter,  since  these  cold 
blooded  murderers  were  allowed  to  escape  the  just 
penalty  of  their  crime,  and  that  by  an  act  of  the  Terri 
torial  Legislature  ! 

Three  weeks  after  the  murder  McDougal  was  arrested 
at  his  own  ranch,  and  committed  to  stand  his  trial  for 
murder  at  the  next  District  Court.  But,  having  friends 
and  money,  he  was  immediately  brought  up  before  the 
District  Judge,  under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  ad 
mitted  to  bail  in  $4,000. 

About  six  weeks  before  the  sitting  of  the  Court,  Pat 
Cosgrove,  Sheriff  of  Johnson  County,  having  got  wind  that 
the  chief  villain  of  the  tragedy,  Miliner,  was  in  hiding  at 
Atchinson,  a  small  town  in  Missouri,  about  thirty  miles 
from  Kansas  City,  asked  me  to  bring  one  of  my  "  Boys," 
and  go  with  him  to  effect  his  arrest,  if  possible ;  and  I 
readily  consented,  for  I  was  most  anxious  to  catch  the 
scoundrel. 

To  ensure  secrecy  we  said  no  word  to  any  soul  in  the 
place  as  to  our  errand,  for  we  had  very  reliable  informa 
tion,  and  felt  sure  of  catching  our  man,  unless,  by  chance, 
he  got  wind  of  our  being  after  him.  Crossing  into 
Missouri,  we  easily  obtained  a  warrant  for  Miliner's 
arrest,  from  the  proper  authority,  and  then  rode  quietly 
the  first  ten  miles  of  our  journey.  After  resting  our 
horses,  we  started,  well  after  dusk,  to  ride  the  remaining 
twenty  miles  to  Atchinson,  meaning  to  surprise  the 
murderer  a  little  after  midnight. 

The  man  was  a  desperado  of  the  worst  kind,  and 
wonderfully  quick  with  his  shooting-irons.  If  we 


AT    DEAD   OF   NIGHT  121 

roused  him  some  of  us  were  bound  to  get  shot,  so  you 
may  be  sure  we  went  to  work  very  cautiously.  It  was 
pitch  dark  when  we  reached  the  town,  and  not  a  soul 
was  stirring  in  the  one  street  it  contained  ;  nor  was 
any  light  visible  ;  the  whole  place  seemed  wrapped  in 
sleep. 

We  had  such  clear  directions  to  go  by  that,  after 
groping  about  a  bit,  we  found  the  house  wo  wanted. 
Tying  our  horses  to  a  fence  near  by,  we  took  off  our 
boots  and  crept  in  at  the  back  door,  which,  luckily  for 
us,  was  unfastened. 

I  cautiously  lit  a  candle,  and  we  stood  for  a  moment 
or  two  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  listening  for  any  sound. 
But  nothing  was  to  be  heard  ;  the  silence  was  abso 
lute.  We  were  pretty  sure  our  man  was  in  the  house, 
but  in  which  room  we  didn't  know,  and  must  risk 
that.  Silently  and  carefully  we  stole  up  the  stairs, 
and  in  the  dead  stillness  of  the  house  it  seemed  as 
though  the  slight  creaking  of  the  boards,  and  the  sound 
of  our  breathing,  restrain  it  as  we  would,  must  arouse 
the  inmates. 

At  last  we  stood  on  the  landing  ;  on  each  side  of  this 
was  a  door — which  should  wo  choose  ?  There  was 
nothing  to  guide  our  choice,  and  at  haphazard  I  slowly 
lifted  the  latch  of  that  on  the  right.  Peering  in,  with 
the  shaded  candle  in  one  hand  and  my  revolver  in 
the  other,  I  could  make  out  two  beds,  both  occupied. 
Looking  from  one  to  the  other,  at  last  I  made  out 
Miliner  fast  asleep  in  the  one  nearest  the  door. 

He  moved,  sat  up,  and,  taking  in  the  situation  at  a 
glance,  made  a  grab  for  his  six-shooter  under  the  pillow. 
But  he  was  just  too  late,  for  before  he  could  handle  it  we 
were  upon  him,  and  Cosgrove  had  him  safely  handcuffed 
in  another  moment.  Now  we  roused  up  the  people  of 
the  house,  and  told  our  story.  They  were  not  a  little 
astonished  to  find  their  place  so  quietly  invaded  by  three 
armed  men,  of  whom  they  had  never  heard  a  sound,  and 


122  THE    CAPTURE    OF    MILINER 

they  appeared  not  very  well  pleased  at  our  visit.  How 
ever,  when  they  saw  the  warrant,  and  knew  why  we  had 
arrested  Miliner,  they  were  appeased,  and  treated  us  very 
well.  Next  day,  starting  at  daybreak,  we  marched  our 
prisoner  across  the  prairie,  securely  fastened  to  Cos- 
grove's  stirrup,  to  Kansas  City,  and  the  following  morning 
landed  him  safely  in  the  gaol  at  Olathy,  where  he  was  at 
once  heavily  ironed. 

The  curses  he  heaped  on  our  heads  during  the  journey 
were  voluminous  and  powerful,  but  having  got  him  safe 
enough,  after  what  we  thought  was  a  smart  capture,  we 
let  him  swear  at  large,  without  interruption.  He  seemed 
to  realise  that  he  couldn't  escape  hanging  this  time  ; 
but  what  rankled  most  in  his  mind  was  that  if  he 
must  hang,  he  couldn't  kill  me  first ! 

He  was  committed  for  trial,  on  the  charge  of  murder, 
and,  being  unable  to  obtain  bail,  lay  in  prison  for  nearly 
six  weeks  before  the  District  Court  sat.  During  that 
time  I  was  often  at  Olathy,  on  County  Board  business, 
and  there  heard  from  the  gaoler  and  others  of  the  threats 
our  prisoner  constantly  uttered  against  me,  and  how 
he  vowed  to  shoot  me,  if  only  he  got  free.  This  made 
me  particularly  anxious  he  should  be  hanged,  and  I  had 
a  justifiable  confidence  that  that  would  be  his  fate. 

The  District  Court  was  held  at  Olathy,  the  county  seat, 
early  in  July,  and  on  the  first  day  of  its  opening  I  rode 
over  with  four  or  five  of  my  "  Boys."  The  Grand  Jury 
found  true  bills  against  Miliner  and  McDougal,  and  they 
were  brought  into  Court  in  irons.  Their  counsel  ob 
jected  to  this,  and  asked  for  the  removal  of  the  fetters, 
which  the  Judge  granted,  though  the  ^Sheriff  strongly 
protested,  averring  that  the  men  were  such  notorious 
desperadoes  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  them  if  they 
were  cast  loose. 

The  little  town  was  crowded  with  people  from  far  and 
near,  and  in  the  Court  itself  one  could  hardly  stir,  so 
densely  was  it  thronged  with  excited  spectators.  The 


MILINER    LET    LOOSE  123 

murder  was  a  particularly  atrocious  one,  even  for  Kansas, 
and  the  interest  it  created  was  intense.  Walker's  two 
brothers,  decent,  quiet  young  fellows,  had  come  all  the 
way  from  Ohio  to  see  justice  done  upon  the  murderers, 
and  if  they  had  only  followed  my  advice  they  would 
have  seen  it. 

I  was  the  principal  witness  for  the  prosecution,  and  the 
first  called.  All  day  I  stood  in  the  box,  examined  and 
cross-examined  by  counsel,  for  and  against,  who,  after 
their  kind,  managed  to  spin  out  even  so  simple  a  case 
as  this  was  to  an  unconscionable  length.  However,  all 
things,  even  criminal  trials,  come  to  an  end,  and  by 
2  p.m.  the  next  day  all  the  witnesses  had  been  examined, 
the  Judge  had  summed  up,  very  much  against  the  prisoners, 
and  the  jury  had  retired  to  consider  their  verdict.  The 
audience  in  the  crowded,  stifling  Court  still  kept  their 
places,  discussing  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  case  ;  and  the 
almost  unanimous  opinion  seemed  to  be  in  favour  of  a 
verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 

At  this  moment  an  "  Express  Rider/'  his  horse  all  in 
a  lather,  galloped  up  to  the  door,  dismounted,  and  pushed 
his  way  through  the  crowd,  calling  loudly  for  the  Sheriff. 

Cosgrove  came  forward,  and  the  messenger  handed  him 
an  official-looking  document. 

The  babble  of  talk  was  hushed  in  a  moment,  and  every 
one  wondered,  and  waited,  to  know  what  this  strange 
thing  might  mean.  We  were  not  long  in  doubt,  for 
presently  Cosgrove  announced  that  it  was  an  amnesty, 
granted  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  and  duly  signed  by 
the  Governor,  for  all  criminal  offences  committed  up  to 
date,  whether  under  trial  or  not !  Was  ever  such  an  act 
passed  by  any  other  legislative  body  in  this  world  ? 

Of  course,  the  reason  of  it  was  that  many  of  the  honour 
able  legislators,  and  most  of  their  friends,  had  serious 
misgivings  as  to  what  might  happen  to  themselves,  for 
deeds  done  during  the  "  war,"  and  so  passed  the  amnesty. 

The  trial  was  over,  and  the  seeming  tragedy  turned  into 


124  THE    CAPTURE    OF    MILINER 

a  farce  ;  for  now  the  prisoners  were  brought  in,  and,  by 
order  of  the  Judge,  released  in  open  Court.  But  there 
was  a  very  strong  feeling  against  them  both,  and  espe 
cially  against  Miliner.  The  crowd  of  angry  men  who 
watched  them  slink  away  could  have  been  roused  to 
fury  in  a  moment  if  the  Walker  brothers  had  but  said  the 
word,  and  asked  for  the  justice  denied  them  by  the  Law. 
"  Judge  Lynch  "  would  have  done  his  work  promptly, 
and  the  world  would  have  been  well  rid  of  two  remorse 
less  villains. 

But  it  was  not  to  be  ;  the  Ohio  men  were  too  gentle,  or 
timid,  or  too  law-abiding,  for  such  an  action. 

So  Miliner  and  his  partner  in  crime  departed  un 
harmed,  and  for  some  time  thereafter  I,  metaphorically 
speaking,  slept  with  one  eye  open,  expecting  an  attack. 


CHAPTER    VI 

LAST   DAYS   IN    KANSAS 

As  I  said  in  the  previous  chapter,  mine  enemy's  escape 
from  hanging  caused  me  no  little  disquietude  ;  because, 
to  keep  a  whole  skin,  one  had  to  walk  very  warily, 
and  it  did  not  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  life  to  feel  that 
he  might  be  lurking  privily  behind  every  corner  one 
turned,  or  every  clump  of  bush  one  passed. 

The  very  evening  of  his  unexpected  release  he  came 
up  to  me  in  the  town,  very  civilly,  and  asked  me  when  I 
was  starting  for  home,  as  he  would  like  to  ride  with  me, 
and  talk  over  our  differences.  It  was  nearly  dusk,  and 
I  said  I  was  leaving  at  once,  that  he  was  welcome  to 
come  too,  if  he  liked,  but  he  must  keep  his  hands 
out  of  his  pockets,  for,  if  he  touched  his  six-shooter, 
I  would  let  daylight  through  him. 

He  laughed,  saying  I  needn't  be  uneasy,  as  he  only 
wanted  to  be  friendly,  and  would  certainly  ride  with 
me.  Very  good,  I  answered,  come  along  then  ;  I  start 
in  ten  minutes. 

I  felt  sure  he  meant  to  shoot  me  if  he  could  get  the 
chance,  so  I  told  two  of  my  "  Boys  "  to  ride  behind  us, 
with  their  six-shooters  ready  for  action.  My  "  friend 
the  enemy  "  appeared  punctually  to  time,  but  when  he 
saw  I  wasn't  riding  alone  he  suddenly  changed  his  mind, 
said  he  found  he  had  business  to  detain  him  in  town  that 
night,  but  would  certainly  come  and  see  me  before  long. 
"  You  will  always  find  me  ready  whenever  you  come,"  I 
said  ;  and  so  we  parted,  to  my  relief,  for  though  I  wasn't 

125 


126  LAST    DAYS    IN    KANSAS 

much  troubled  with  nerves  in  those  days,  a  dark  night's 
ride  alongside  a  murderer,  anxious  to  add  you  to  the 
number  of  his  victims,  is  not  altogether  enjoyable. 

At  the  end  of  that  month  of  July  I  went  in  charge  of 
one  of  "  Billy  "  Russell's  trains  to  Fort  Kearney,  without 
seeing  any  more  of  Miliner,  and  when  I  returned  home, 
after  some  three  months'  absence,  found  he  had  left 
Monticello  for  some  unknown  destination,  having  made 
the  place  too  hot  to  hold  him  any  longer. 

I  was  offered  the  charge  of  a  train  of  seventy  wagons 
to  Fort  Laramie,  but  I  chose  that  for  Fort  Kearney, 
though  it  was  only  one  of  forty-five  wagons.  The  latter 
journey,  though  long  enough,  was  only  half  the  length  of 
that  to  Laramie,  and  I  was  anxious  not  to  be  away  too 
long  from  home.  I  loaded  up  on  the  Levee  at  Leaven- 
worth  City,  and  at  the  Fort,  and  started  on  my  long 
journey  to  the  south  of  the  Platte  River,  in  the  Territory 
of  Nebraska,  with  forty-five  teamsters  and  six  extra 
hands.  I  had  two  horses  for  my  own  riding,  and  ten 
supernumerary  ones ;  but  there  was  no  assistant  wagon- 
master  allowed  for  so  small  a  train,  and  I  had  to  look 
after  it  all  myself. 

We  travelled  for  weeks  towards  the  "  Big  Blue  "  River, 
across  an  open,  rolling  prairie  country  ;  treeless  as  a  rule, 
except  when  we  struck  a  stream  lightly  fringed  with 
timber.  There  had  been  a  good  deal  of  rain,  so  water  and 
grass  were  good ;  a  great  thing  for  the  cattle,  as 
they  got  plenty  of  feed,  but  it  caused  many  a  wagon 
to  stick  in  the  mudholes,  out  of  which  they  had  to 
be  pulled  in  the  way  I  have  described. 

We  were  passing  through  a  rather  dangerous  Indian 
country,  for  the  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  were  out  on  the 
warpath  against  each  other,  an  occupation  which  rather 
whetted  their  appetite  for  the  plunder  of  freight  trains, 
if  they  could  catch  them  unawares.  Indeed,  only  re 
cently  a  strong  band  of  the  Sioux  had  surprised  one 
in  that  very  country,  and  killed  every  man  in  it  after 


BUFFALO,    BUFFALO!  127 

torturing  them  by  fire,  as  could  be  seen  from  the 
"  sign  "  plainly  enough. 

Not  to  be  caught  napping,  I  always  scouted  ahead  of 
my  train  with  three  spare  hands,  keeping  best  part  of 
a  mile  in  front  of  it,  with  the  men  widely  spread.  At 
night,  or  rather  before  sundown,  I  formed  my  wagons 
into  a  corral,  and  if  the  cattle  were  grazing  outside  at 
night,  had  scouts  out  round  them  We  frequently  saw 
bands  of  Indians  at  a  distance,  but  they  never  attacked 
us  ;  probably  because  they  found  we  were  on  the  alert. 

One  night  on  the  "  Big  Blue  "  we  had  a  bad  scare.  It 
was  just  after  sundown,  and  we  had  corralled  the  wagons, 
and  all  hands  were  busy  cooking  at  the  fires  outside  the 
circle.  A  little  way  off,  in  the  gathering  gloom,  we  could 
see  the  scouts  and  cattle-herders  rushing  the  animals 
along  for  the  corral,  as  fast  as  they  could  drive  them  with 
frantic  yelling  and  much  cracking  of  whips.  At  first  I 
thought  the  Redskins  were  upon  us,  but  as  the  mob  drew 
near  we  could  hear  the  cry  of  "  Buffalo,  buffalo  !  "  and 
realised  the  situation. 

The  fires  were  made  up,  and  every  man  stood  ready 
with  his  loaded  rifle  and  six-shooter. 

The  cattle  came  lumbering  into  camp  at  the  top  of 
their  speed,  and  close  at  their  heels  followed  the  vastest 
herd  of  buffalo  I  had  ever  seen.  On  they  came  in  count 
less  thousands,  and  the  sound  of  their  trampling  was 
like  the  distant,  dull  roar  of  the  surf  on  the  sea  beach. 
If  we  couldn't  turn  them  aside,  they  must  surely  over 
whelm  us  by  sheer  weight  and  pressure  of  numbers. 
The  whole  multitude  was  on  the  move  to  pastures  new, 
and,  as  was  the  custom  of  their  kind,  travelled  at  a 
steady  "  lope,"  or  canter  ;  the  hinder  most  following 
blindly  the  lead  of  those  in  front. 

However,  just  as  the  sea  of  clashing  horns  and  gleaming 
eyes  seemed  as  though  it  must  roll  over  us,  wagons, 
cattle  and  all,  our  fires,  the  shouts  of  the  men,  and  the 
volley  of  rifle  fire  we  discharged  turned  the  front  rank, 


128  LAST   DAYS    IN   KANSAS 

or  rather  split  it  in  two.  So  the  great  herd  passed  to 
right  and  left  of  our  corral,  which  stood  like  a  solitary 
rock  in  the  midst  of  a  wide  and  raging  flood,  and  did 
no  harm. 

For  several  hours  the  buffalo  streamed  past  us,  so 
close  that  we  could  see  the  shine  of  their  great  bright 
eyes  and  the  dim  outline  of  their  shaggy  forms.  When 
daylight  came  we  found  we  had  killed  a  couple  of  dozen 
or  so,  which  was  quite  as  many  as  we  wanted. 

There  must  have  been  tens  of  thousands  of  buffalo  in 
that  one  herd,  and  now  there  isn't  a  single  one  on  all 
those  wide  plains  ! 

After  a  week's  rest  at  Fort  Kearney,  which  both  men 
and  cattle  stood  in  need  of,  I  started  back,  nearly  empty, 
and,  making  good  time,  arrived  at  Leavenworth  City 
about  the  end  of  October,  without  any  incident  by  the 
way  worth  recording. 

"  Billy  "  Russell,  a  man  of  few  words,  appeared  satisfied 
with  my  management  of  the  train,  and  asked  me  to 
winter  two  hundred  of  his  cattle  on  my  ranch,  at 
$10  a  head ;  ten  per  cent,  loss  to  be  allowed,  but 
anything  above  that  to  be  paid  for  by  myself.  To  this 
I  agreed.  He  also  engaged  me  to  look  after  some  of  his 
cattle  farms  in  the  surrounding  country,  at  a  salary  of 
$50  a  month. 

I  accepted  this  employment,  though  the  pay  was 
small,  for  I  was  anxious  to  keep  in  with  Russell,  who,  as 
I  have  said,  was  a  power  out  West.  Though  "  still  of  his 
tongue,"  he  was  bluff  and  outspoken  enough  at  times. 
To  his  intimates  he  was  "  the  Colonel,"  but  not  to  out 
siders.  If  these  gave  him  the  title,  common  enough  in 
the  States,  he  resented  it.  "  D —  -  you,  sir,"  he  would 
say,  "  I'm  no  colonel,  I'm  plain  Billy  Russell,  and  don't 
you  call  me  out  of  my  name." 

When  I  knew  him  he  was  at  the  height  of  his  prosperity, 
but,  soon  after  I  left  Kansas,  came  to  utter  grief.  His 
business  was  enormous,  and  very  difficult  to  keep  proper 


TECUMSEH'S    DAUGHTER  129 

control  of.  Somehow  or  other  he  had  got  to  windward 
of  the  Treasury  at  Washington,  to  the  tune  of  some 
$6,000,000  ;  it  was  said  through  the  connivance  of  some 
of  the  officials.  A  committee  of  Congress  was  appointed 
to  unravel  the  affair,  and  they  had  to  call  in  "  Billy  " 
himself  to  help  them  ;  of  course  under  the  usual  in 
demnity  from  prosecution,  if  he  made  a  clean  breast  of 
it.  This  saved  him,  for  there  was  little  doubt  that  he 
had  dipped  his  hands  pretty  freely  into  the  national 
till. 

Early  in  November  I  got  together  four  or  five  hands 
and  set  out  to  fetch  my  two  hundred  cattle  from  one  of 
Russell's  "  farms  "  beyond  the  Kansas  River.  Winter 
had  set  in  early  ;  the  cold  was  intense,  and  riding  was 
bitter  work.  I  remember  halting  the  first  night  at  a 
Shawnee  settlement  near  the  river,  where  the  Indians 
put  me  up  as  best  they  could.  In  the  one  room  their 
cabin  contained  sat  an  old  squaw,  cowering  over  the 
fire  ;  she  looked  exactly  like  a  dried-up  mummy,  except 
that  she  breathed  and  lived.  Her  great  great  grandson, 
the  owner  of  the  cabin,  said  she  was  one  hundred  and  ten 
years  old,  and  was  the  daughter  of  the  great  Shawnee 
chief  and  prophet  Tecumseh.  This  chieftain  was 
shamefully  treated  by  the  U.S.  Government,  and  his  tribe 
treacherously  slaughtered  and  broken  up  at  Ticonderogah, 
just  after  the  War  of  Independence. 

I  worked  very  hard  for  Russell  all  that  winter  looking 
after  his  cattle,  which  necessitated  being  in  the  saddle 
day  after  day,  and  all  day  often.  Indeed  all  the  years 
I  was  in  Kansas  I  may  say  I  spent  most  of  my  time  on 
horseback. 

The  wintering  of  the  cattle  at  the  ranch  didn't  turn 
out  a  very  profitable  speculation  after  all,  for  though  I 
had  plenty  of  fodder  and  corn  for  them,  the  weather  was 
very  severe,  exceptionally  so  indeed.  Then  many  of  the 
working  steers  had  been  "  alkalied  "  on  the  plains,  and 
many  of  them  died,  despite  my  utmost  care.  So,  as 

9 


130  LAST    DAYS    IN   KANSAS 

May  10,  the  time  for  handing  them  over,  drew  near, 
I  was  in  rather  a  fix,  for  I  had  lost  considerably  more 
than  the  ten  per  cent,  allowed.  What  in  the  world  should 
I  do  ?  Now  I  knew  there  were  a  number  of  Russell's 
vast  herds  of  cattle  that  had  strayed  away  from  his 
various  "  farms,"  and  were  roaming  wild  on  the  plains. 
I  therefore  got  together  two  or  three  trusty  "  Boys," 
and  went  out  to  see  if  I  couldn't  hunt  up  some  of  these 
on  the  sheltered  and  well-grassed  river-bottoms  I  knew 
of,  where  they  would  be  likely  to  winter. 

After  a  rare  hunt,  I  was  lucky  enough  to  find  nearly 
as  many  of  these  wild  steers  as  I  wanted.  It  was  no 
easy  job  to  drive  them  to  the  ranch,  but  we  managed  it 
somehow,  and  when  the  handing-over  came  I  was  very 
few  short  of  my  number.  Russell  received  them  himself, 
at  one  of  his  corrals,  and  was  pleased  to  express  his 
satisfaction  at  the  condition  of  the  cattle.  I  said  nothing 
about  his  wild  steers  I  had  caught,  and  he  paid  me  on 
'.  /  the  spot. 

That  winter  of  1858-9,  the  last  one  I  spent  in  Kansas, 
was  comparatively  uneventful.  The  country  was  gradu 
ally  settling  down,  though  not  in  the  way  my  friends 
or  myself  desired  ;  for  the  Free  State  party  had  got  the 
upper  hand,  and  ruled  the  Territory,  making  things 
somewhat  hot  for  us  of  the  defeated  faction. 

Though  the  state  of  affairs  was  not  altogether  so 
pleasant  as  it  might  be,  we  managed  to  enjoy  ourselves 
pretty  well  in  the  intervals  of  hard  work,  and  amongst 
other  things  had  many  a  good  dance.  We  thought 
nothing  of  going  ten,  fifteen,  or  even  twenty  miles  to 
one  of  these  ;  and  the  ride  over  the  hard-frozen  prairie 
in  the  dry,  keen  air  with  a  party  of  girls,  who  were 
just  as  much  at  home  on  horseback  as  the  young 
fellows  who  escorted  them,  was  almost  as  good  fun  as 
the  dance  itself. 

Margaret  Hendricks,  she  who  saved  my  life  when 
Everard  and  Cline  were  so  anxious  to  hang  me  at  Falk's 


MARGARET    HENDRICKS  131 

ranch  in  the  "  war  "  time,  often  made  one  of  the  party 
on  these  occasions.  She  was  the  finest  and  most  daring 
horsewoman  I  ever  saw  ;  even  in  that  country,  whore 
all  the  girls  had  to  ride,  no  one  could  approach  her.  She 
could  break  the  wildest  horse  in  a  surprisingly  short  time, 
and  make  him  do  just  what  she  liked.  One  very  hand 
some  Indian  pony  she  had  that  would  come  to  her  call, 
and  follow  her  like  a  dog.  She  would  call  him  up  on 
the  prairie,  make  him  kneel  down,  jump  on  his  back, 
without  saddle  or  bridle,  and  go  cantering  off.  Then, 
whilst  still  in  motion,  she  would  stand  up  on  his  quarters, 
quite  at  her  ease  ;  I  never  saw  anything  in  a  circus  to 
equal  it. 

I  may  say  she  was  as  good  at  taming  men  as  she  was 
horses,  and  laughingly  averred  she  managed  both  by 
the  power  of  her  eyes  !  Probably  it  was  so,  for  I  know 
they  were  large,  and  dark,  and  lustrous  ;  very  beautiful 
in  repose,  but  flashing  ominously  in  anger.  Indeed  it 
would  have  been  a  bold  man  who  dared  to  take  a  liberty 
of  any  kind  with  Miss  Margaret ;  he  certainly  wouldn't 
have  done  it  a  second  time. 

The  state  of  society,  and  the  perfectly  free  and  easy 
terms  on  which  the  young  folks  of  both  sexes  mixed  out 
West,  would  no  doubt  have  scandalised  "  Mrs.  Grundy  "  ; 
but  in  reality  I  never  saw,  or  heard  of,  any  impropriety. 
Moreover  the  girls  were  quite  capable  of  protecting 
themselves,  if  necessary,  for  most  of  them  were  handy 
with  a  six-shooter,  and  many  of  them  good  rifle-shots. 

Margaret  was  a  beautiful  dancer,  amongst  her  other 
accomplishments,  and,  being  very  pretty  and  lively,  was 
in  great  request  as  a  partner.  Though  her  father  was  a 
Free  Stater,  he  and  I  were  on  friendly  terms,  and  ho 
never  objected  to  my  taking  his  daughter  out  to  dances, 
and  bringing  her  home  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or 
night. 

So  she  and  I  became  close  friends,  despite  the  opposition 
of  her  brother,  a  young  fellow  of  about  my  own  age,  but 


132  LAST    DAYS    IN    KANSAS 

a  bitter  Free  Stater,  who  couldn't  forgive  the  part  I  had 
taken  on  the  other  side.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
threaten  he  would  shoot  me  (though  not  to  my  face)  if 
I  did  not  drop  the  friendship.  The  girl  was  very  wroth 
at  his  daring  to  dictate  to  her  in  this  fashion,  and  I 
expect  must  have  given  him  rather  a  bad  time  over  it. 

I  remember  particularly  bringing  her  home  one  morn 
ing  early,  from  a  dance  a  few  miles  out  of  Leavenworth 
City.  The  family  were  all  at  breakfast,  and  the  father 
greeted  me  cordially  enough,  but  the  brother  sat  glum 
and  silent,  ignoring  his  sister's  presence,  and  taking  not 
the  slightest  notice  of  myself.  Margaret  sat  silent  for 
a  minute  or  two,  after  greeting  the  old  man  ;  then  her 
eyes  began  to  blaze,  and  at  last  she  burst  out,  and  gave 
that  young  fellow  such  a  dressing  down  as  he  wouldn't 
forget  to  his  dying  day.  If  he  hadn't  slunk  away  I 
believe  she  would  have  horse-whipped  him  !  No  doubt 
he  was  the  coward  she  told  him  he  was,  or  he  would 
have  shot  me  ;  but  he  never  went  beyond  threats,  of 
which  I  took  no  notice. 

Margaret,  with  all  her  outdoor  accomplishments,  was 
equally  great  in  the  house  ;  was  a  first-rate  cook,  could 
spin,  and  make  her  own  clothes,  as  indeed  all  the  Western 
girls  did  in  those  days,  and  was  a  good  musician.  Her 
uncle  was  a  well-known  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
out  West,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  and  in  his  family 
she  had  been  educated,  till  she  was  seventeen. 

I  have  dwelt  on  my  friend  Margaret  at  some  length 
because,  though  she  far  outshone  all  her  compeers  in 
beauty  and  accomplishments,  she  was  a  true  Western 
girl,  of  a  type  which  I  suppose  must,  by  this  time,  be 
wellnigh  extinct. 

It  is  forty-four  years  since  I  said  good-bye  to  her  at 
her  father's  ranch,  and,  if  she  still  lives,  she  must  be  an 
old  woman  now,  though  it  is  difficult  to  realise  that  one 
so  full  of  youth,  high  spirits  and  courage  should  ever 
grow  old.  I  don't  like  to  think  of  her  in  that  aspect, 


CLINE'S    RETURN  133 

but  as  she  was  in  those  far-off  days  she  will  always 
abide  in  my  memory,  as  long  as  I  shall  live. 

My  sojourn  in  Kansas  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
I  had  to  choose  between  giving  up  my  pleasant  home 
and  ranch  or  standing  a  criminal  prosecution,  with  the 
probability  of  a  long  term  of  imprisonment  to  follow. 
I  chose  the  former,  and  this  is  how  it  came  about. 

It  will  perhaps  be  remembered  that  I  had,  unfortu 
nately,  to  shoot  the  man  Cline  in  self-defence  when  Merril 
Smith  and  I  went  to  arrest  him  ;  that  he  was  severely 
wounded,  but  recovered  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  be  removed 
to  New  York,  where  his  friends  lived.  As  time  went  on, 
and  I  heard  nothing  of  him,  I  fondly  hoped  that  Kansas 
would  see  him  no  more,  and  at  last  forgot  all  about  him. 
I  was  destined,  however,  to  have  a  startling  reminder  of 
his  existence,  for  the  next  thing  I  heard  of  him  was  that 
he  was  back  in  Leavenworth  City,  and,  the  Free  Staters 
being  in  the  ascendant,  had  got  himself  elected  Sheriff  ! 

This  was  in  the  winter,  or  rather,  very  early  spring, 
of  1859.  I  put  a  bold  face  on  it,  and,  directly  I  heard 
the  news,  rode  into  Leavenworth  to  see  how  the  land 
lay. 

My  friends  there  reported  Cline  as  breathing  the  direst 
vengeance  against  me,  and  vowing  he  would  "  shoot 
me  on  sight." 

I  met  him  in  the  street  that  day,  and  we  passed  each 
other  without  a  word  ;  but  he  didn't  attempt  to  shoot, 
though  I  saw  he  had  his  hand  on  his  six-shooter  in  his 
pocket,  just  as  I  had. 

I  took  good  care  to  let  it  be  known  in  the  town  that 
I  was  quite  prepared  for  Mr.  Cline,  and  always  went 
armed  ;  and  that  as  to  shooting,  two  could  play  at  that 
game,  as  he  well  knew.  But  all  this  bluff  notwithstand 
ing,  I  returned  home  in  a  very  uneasy  frame  of  mind. 
I  wasn't  so  much  alarmed  at  his  threats  of  violence,  for, 
desperado  as  he  was,  he  had  had  a  severe  lesson,  and  I 
reckoned  that  would  make  him  very  careful  ;  but  what 


134  LAST    DAYS    IN    KANSAS 

I  did  dread  was  his  setting  the  law  in  motion  against  me. 
His  party  was  in  power  ;  the  judges  were  Free  Staters, 
and  my  chance  of  a  fair  trial  was  small  indeed. 

My  farm  was  in  good  order,  and  my  crops  flourishing  ; 
in  fact  my  house  and  ranch  were  amongst  the  best  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  I  was  very  loth  to  leave  them 
and  all  the  good  friends  I  had  made  in  that  country, 
which,  rough  as  it  was,  suited  me  well  in  those  days. 

But  I  wasn't  prepared  to  risk  the  probability  of  a  long 
term  of  imprisonment,  and  possibly  heavy  civil  damages 
as  well,  even  for  all  this,  and  made  my  preparations 
accordingly. 

I  got  together  all  the  cash  that  was  owing  to  me,  as 
far  as  I  could  ;  had  prepared,  by  a  lawyer  in  Kansas 
City,  a  deed  of  sale  of  all  my  property  to  Shoemaker, 
and  a  mortgage  from  him  to  me,  as  well  as  promissory 
notes  for  the  value,  and  then  awaited  events.  None  of 
these  documents  were  signed,  but  were  all  ready  for  an 
emergency. 

I  don't  know  why,  but  Cline  made  no  move  till  about 
the  middle  of  July  ;  perhaps  he  thought  he  would  keep 
me  in  suspense,  which  he  certainly  did.  About  that 
time,  however,  I  got  a  message  one  morning  early  from 
my  friend  Pat  Cosgrove,  the  Sheriff  of  Johnson  County, 
that  he  held  a  warrant  for  my  arrest,  and  that,  if  I 
wished  to  avoid  it,  I  had  best  be  off  at  once.  By  the 
middle  of  the  day  I  was  ready. 

One  of  my  hands  brought  round  two  of  my  best  saddle 
horses  for  Shoemaker  and  myself.  I  buckled  on  my 
six-shooter,  threw  my  saddle-bags,  with  a  change  of 
clothes  in  them,  across  the  saddle,  and,  with  one  last 
lingering  look  at  my  pretty  ranch,  set  off  at  full  gallop 
for  Kansas  City,  en  route  for  my  far-distant  home  in  old 
England,  which  I  hadn't  seen  for  seven  long  years. 

In  Kansas  City  Shoemaker  and  I  speedily  arranged 
our  business  matters  ;  and  I  say  at  once  that  no  one 
could  have  acted  more  faithfully,  or  more  honourably, 


HOMEWARD    BOUND  135 

than  did  this  rough  Western  Borderer  to  me  in  all  these 
transactions. 

Everything  having  been  prepared  beforehand,  I  was 
in  time  to  catch  the  evening  boat  to  St.  Louis.  Shoe 
maker  came  down  to  the  Levee  to  see  me  off,  and 
there  we  had  quite  an  affecting  parting. 

Steam  was  up  as  I  stepped  on  board  ;  the  boat  cast  off, 
and  away  we  went  on  the  first  stage  of  my  long  journey 
home,  whilst  my  faithful  Shoemaker  stood  and  waved 
a  last  farewell. 

I  had  once  again  escaped  safely  from  a  very  threatening 
danger,  and  for  the  moment  was  happy  and  content. 


CHAPTER  VII 

KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THENCE  TO  TEXAS 

THE  journey  home,  and  out  again  to  New  York,  my 
sojourn  in  Philadelphia,  and  my  trip  to  Canada,  I  propose 
to  condense  as  much  as  possible,  only  referring  to  incidents 
here  and  there  which  may  be  of  some  interest. 

The  great  Dominion  had  not  been  created  in  my  time, 
and  the  country  I  saw  round  Ottawa  was  not  tempting 
to  settlers. 

On  the  trip  down  to  St.  Louis  there  was  an  exciting 
episode  which  I  must  tell,  since  it  shows  how  easily  a 
free  coloured  human  being  could  be  kidnapped  by  an 
unscrupulous  villain  in  the  days  of  slavery. 

A  Northern  man  had  come  on  board  with  a  light- 
coloured  mulatto  woman  and  her  two  children.  These 
he  entered  on  the  books  as  his  slaves,  and  of  course  they 
were  put  on  the  boiler  deck,  whilst  the  supposed  owner 
enjoyed  himself  in  the  saloon.  The  woman,  who  was 
rather  good-looking  and  had  some  education,  told  her 
tale  to  one  of  the  passengers.  The  white  man,  she  said, 
had  made  her  acquaintance  in  Kansas  City,  and  persuaded 
her  he  would  provide  her  with  a  good  home,  and  care 
for  her  and  her  children  in  one  of  the  Free  States,  I 
forget  which,  where  he  lived.  "  And  now,"  she  said, 
"  I  feel  sure  he  is  taking  me  to  New  Orleans  to  sell 
me  for  a  slave,  and  I  am  as  free  as  he  is.  My  little 
ones  will  be  torn  from  me,  but  rather  than  that  I  will 
drown  myself,  and  them,  in  the  river." 

Her  piteous  tale  impressed  her  hearers,  who  repeated 
it  to  the  captain.  He  heard  what  she  had  to  say,  and 

136 


AN    IMPROMPTU    .JURY  137 

so  straightforwardly  did  she  toll  her  story,  that  he  called 
a  meeting  of  the  passengers  to  determine  what  should 
be  done.  The  supposed  owner  was  haled  before  this 
impromptu  Court,  and  both  sides  were  heard.  It  was 
evident  that  the  feeling  was  in  favour  of  the  woman, 
who  adhered  to  her  original  statement  without  variation, 
whilst  he  contradicted  himself,  and  was  manifestly 
lying.  Finally  his  papers,  when  examined,  were  proved 
to  be  forgeries,  and  he  confessed  his  guilt. 

It  was  a  bad  case  of  nigger- steal  ing,  the  most  heinous 
of  all  crimes  in  the  South,  and  the  verdict  was  death  ; 
the  sentence  to  be  carried  out  at  the  first  landing-place. 
To  this  however  the  captain,  who  acted  as  president, 
would  not  agree,  and  it  was  resolved  to  leave  tho  culprit, 
just  as  he  stood,  on  a  sandbank  in  the  middle  of  the 
river.  This  was  presently  done,  and  I  have  no  idea 
what  became  of  the  scoundrel. 

A  handsome  subscription  was  got  up  for  his  victim, 
enough  to  give  her  a  start  in  St.  Louis,  where  we  left 
her.  She  had  had  a  very  narrow  escape,  and  the  poor 
creature's  gratitude  to  her  rescuers  I  shall  never  forget. 

In  St.  Louis  I  interviewed  the  great  firm  of  Western 
land-agents,  Messrs.  Pollock  &  Co.  The  senior  partner 
was  well  known  to  me,  and  to  him  I  frankly  told  my  story, 
placing  my  affairs  unreservedly  in  his  hands.  Then  I 
took  ticket  to  New  York,  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  set 
out  on  my  seventy  hours'  journey. 

Even  in  those  days  America  was  far  ahead  of  us  in 
the  comfort  and  convenience  of  railway  travelling,  with 
its  corridor  carriages,  dining  and  smoking  cars,  etc. 
But  the  road  itself,  and  the  bridges,  were  not  by  any 
means  perfect.  For  instance,  I  remember  on  that  journey 
the  conductor  requesting  all  passengers  to  alight,  some 
where  near  Indianopolis,  as  a  trestle-bridge  in  front 
of  us  was  very  shaky.  We  got  out  and  walked  ahead 
of  the  train,  whilst  the  frail  wooden  structure  trembled 
and  shook  with  the  ponderous  weight  behind  us. 


138  KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THflNCE  TO  TEXAS 

Crossing  the  Alleghanies  the  scenery  was  very  grand, 
and  the  brilliant  moonlight  of  a  glorious  summer  night 
touched  the  mountain-tops  and  flooded  all  their  slopes 
with  silver  ;  whilst  in  the  deep  valleys,  along  whose 
precipitous  sides  we  crept,  gleamed  far  below  us  the  red 
flares  of  the  blast-furnaces.  The  glamour  of  the  scene 
held  me  entranced,  and  all  that  night  I  sat  out  on  the 
corridor  platform,  dreaming  dreams  of  the  future  before 
me,  till  daylight  broke  the  spell. 

At  New  York  I  put  up  at  the  American  and  European 
Hotel,  and  for  the  first  time  in  seven  years  revelled  in 
comfort  and  luxury.  Well-cooked  dinners,  attentive 
servants,  comfortably  furnished  rooms,  and  a  feather  bed 
to  sleep  on  !  Why,  the  place  seemed  a  palace  after  the 
cabins  of  Virginia  and  the  ranches  of  the  West. 

I  had  to  wait  four  days  for  a  steamer,  during  which  I 
did  New  York  and  the  Hudson  River.  The  city  I  thought 
more  like  an  English  one  than  any  I  had  seen  in  America. 

A  twelve  days'  passage  to  Southampton,  in  the  first- 
class  saloon  of  a  German  "  Lloyd's "  steamer,  was  a 
revelation  of  the  comfort,  not  to  say  luxury  of  ocean 
travel,  for  hitherto  I  had  been  most  accustomed  to  the 
unsavoury  fo'c'sles  of  ill-found  sailing  ships. 

It  was  a  perfect  summer  morning  as  I  journeyed  up 
to  London  through  what  seemed  to  me  a  smiling  land 
of  gardens  and  orchards  and  pleasant  homesteads. 
Nothing  like  the  fruitful  richness  of  an  English  country 
side  in  full  summer  is  to  be  seen  elsewhere,  that  I  know 
of,  in  all  the  world.  It  is  almost  worth  the  banishment 
of  years,  only  to  look  upon  it  once  again. 

So,  in  full  enjoyment  of  the  scene,  and  with  happy 
thoughts  of  the  meeting  now  so  near,  I  journeyed  home 
ward,  and  in  the  still,  peaceful  summer  twilight,  walked 
through  the  quiet  churchyard,  past  the  grey  old  church, 
into  the  vicarage  home,  to  receive  a  greeting  so  warm 
that  it  dwells  in  my  memory  still,  and  will  remain  as 
long  as  I  live. 


THE    OLD    HOME  139 

Boys  had  grown  into  young  men,  and  children  into 
strapping  lads,  but  except  for  that,  and  for  the  one  vacant 
chair,  my  favourite  brother's,  who  had  passed  away, 
swiftly  summoned  to  that  other  world  in  the  heyday 
of  youth  and  manly  beauty,  and  now  resting  in  the 
quiet  churchyard,  to  the  grief  of  all  who  knew  him, 
nothing  seemed  changed.  Nothing  in  the  home  at  least, 
though  some  kind  friends,  who  had  bade  me  good-bye 
so  tenderly,  were  not  there  to  greet  my  return. 

Two  months  I  spent  at  home  visiting  friends  and 
relations,  and  renewing  old  acquaintances.  Then  the 
restless,  roving  spirit  grew  strong  upon  me  once  more, 
and  I  must  fare  forth  again  to  seek  my  fortunes  in  the 
West.  So  early  October  of  the  year  1859  saw  me  cross 
ing  the  Atlantic,  bound  for  New  York.  Thence  I  took 
train  for  Kansas,  in  the  hope  of  settling  up  my  affairs 
and  realising  my  property. 

At  St.  Louis  I  learned  from  my  friend  Pollock  that  my 
enemy  Cline  had  obtained  judgment  against  me  in  the 
Civil  Court,  for  heavy  damages,  and  had  refused  to  com 
promise  in  any  way. 

Apart  from  this,  there  was  the  criminal  warrant  out 
against  me,  and  it  was  quite  impossible  to  return  to  live 
in  Kansas,  where,  under  the  existing  Free  State  regime, 
I  couldn't  hope  for  a  fair  trial  if  I  surrendered.  So, 
reluctantly,  I  instructed  Mr.  Pollock  to  sell  my  ranch 
and  claim,  now  growing  daily  more  and  more  valuable, 
as  best  he  could. 

But  I  must  have  one  more  look  at  my  Monticello  home, 
at  whatever  risk.  By  boat  and  train  then  I  travelled 
to  Independence,  where  I  found  my  faithful  overseer 
and  friend,  Shoemaker,  waiting  for  me  with  one  of  my 
best  horses.  Soon  we  were  on  the  road  to  Monticello, 
Shoemaker  telling  me  all  the  news  by  the  way.  How 
good  it  was  to  have  a  gallop  once  more  over  the  open 
rolling  prairies  ! 

Only  a  few  of  my  most  trusty  friends  knew  of  my 


140  KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THENCE  TO  TEXAS 

coming,  and  they  were  at  the  old  place  with  warm  and 
kindly  greetings,  though  these  only  made  the  inevitable 
parting  more  sad.  They  all  pressed  me  to  stay  on,  and 
they  and  my  other  many  friends  would  stand  by  me  to 
the  last,  they  vowed.  But  it  was  no  good,  I  knew,  for 
I  had  no  chance  of  success  against  my  enemy  ;  even 
if  they  shot  him,  as  they  were  eager  to  do,  it  would  only 
get  them  into  trouble  and  not  help  me.  So,  after  one 
day's  stay,  I  said  good-bye  to  them  all,  and  having  paid 
off  Shoemaker  and  the  other  hands,  sadly  enough  rode 
off  to  Independence  once  more,  on  my  return  to  St.  Louis, 

Having  settled  my  affairs  with  my  friend  Pollock, 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  give  up  roving,  and  settle  down 
somewhere  in  the  more  civilised  parts  of  the  West  as  a 
civil  engineer.  First  I  tried  to  enter  at  West  Point, 
which  in  those  days  admitted  civilians,  but  failing  there, 
went  through  a  course  at  the  Polytechnic  College  in 
Philadelphia.  For  one  term  I  managed  to  keep  up  with 
the  class  I  joined,  but  the  strain  was  too  great  and  nearly 
broke  me  down  ;  so  at  the  end  of  it  I  took  out  a  certificate 
as  a  qualified  surveyor,  and  gave  up  the  idea  of  graduating 
as  an  engineer. 

In  the  boarding-house  at  Philadelphia  I  made  friends 
with  a  man  some  few  years  older  than  myself,  who  called 
himself  Thompson  and  who  said  he  had  been  in  business 
in  the  North  of  England.  For  a  reason  I  did  not  know 
till  long  afterwards,  he  had  thrown  up  his  business  and, 
with  a  moderate  amount  of  capital,  had  come  out  to  the 
States  fully  determined  to  settle  down  on  a  farm  either 
there  or  in  Canada.  His  disqualifications  for  the  life 
of  a  settler  in  a  new  country  were  many  and  palpable ; 
he  knew  nothing  of  farming,  couldn't  ride,  couldn't 
shoot,  and  was  wholly  unused  to  roughing  it,  but  had 
plenty  of  pluck  to  go  through  with  anything  he  undertook. 

My  own  inclination  pointed  to  Texas  and  the  wild 
life  of  cattle-ranching  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian 
country  ;  but  Thompson  clung  to  the  Canadian  idea, 


THE    "COLONEL"    GOES    WITH    ME       141 

and,  as  he  was  much  more  fitted  for  the  metier  of  a  farmer 
in  ;i  settled  country  than  for  Indian-fighting,  we  finally 
agreed  to  prospect  the  district  round  Ottawa,  and  settle 
there  if  it  suited  us. 

For  three  months  we  travelled  about,  by  road  and 
river,  and  saw  the  country  thoroughly,  being  hospitably 
entertained  by  the  settlers  whenever  we  put  up  at  their 
houses,  though  more  often  we  camped  out  on  the  banks 
of  some  river  or  lake,  despite  the  awful  mosquitoes 
which  bothered  me  somewhat,  but  nearly  devoured 
poor  Thompson  alive. 

We  had  splendid  fishing  that  summer,  and  shot  a  few  deer 
for  the  pot,  but  nothing  befell  us  worth  giving  in  detail. 

Everywhere  there  was  lumber  in  abundance,  and  it 
seemed  to  be  a  thriving  business  for  those  with  sufficient 
capital  ;  but  farming  in  such  a  country  appeared  to  be 
hopeless,  and  meant  hard  toil  without  prospect  of  any 
thing  but  a  bare  subsistence.  We  were  full  thirty  years 
too  soon  for  the  Red  River  district  and  the  great  wheat- 
growing  plains  of  Western  Canada,  which  now  offer  such 
fine  opportunities  to  men  of  energy,  and  I  soon  made  up 
my  mind  it  was  no  country  for  me. 

To  Texas  I  must  go,  and  "  the  Colonel,"  as  I  had  by 
this  time  christened  Thompson,  would  fain  go  with  me, 
though  I  pointed  out,  as  forcibly  as  I  could,  the  roughing 
and  the  risk  he  would  probably  encounter  in  a  wild  land 
like  that. 

The  die  was  cast,  and  on  the  13th  February  we  took 
train  for  New  York,  en  route  to  the  sunny  south.  At 
New  York,  where  we  had  to  wait  a  few  days  because  the 
Colonel's  luaggage  had  gone  astray,  I  remember  seeing 
the  ss.  Great  Eastern,  then  newly  arrived  from  her 
first  voyage  from  England.  From  New  York  we  took 
passage  by  steamer  to  Savannah  in  Georgia,  en  route  to 
New  Orleans,  and  curiously  enough  met  on  board  a 
cousin  of  poor  Madison  Molesby  who  was  killed  by  my 
side  at  Monticello. 


142  KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THENCE  TO  TEXAS 

Travelling  in  the  States  in  the  far-away  days  of 
which  I  write  was  very  different  from  what  it  is  now, 
but  at  last,  by  stage  coach  and  finally  by  steamer,  we 
did  reach  New  Orleans.  That  very  evil-smelling  "  Queen 
of  the  South  "  was,  as  is  usual  at  that  season,  in  the  grip 
of  "  Yellow  Jack,"  and  we  were  glad  to  embark  on 
the  boat  for  Galveston  and  Indianola  the  morning  after 
our  arrival. 

Running  down  the  broad  Mississippi,  how  lovely  the 
scene  was,  with  waving  cane-fields  on  either  bank,  and 
then  miles  of  orange  groves  coming  close  down  to  the 
Levee.  Years  after  this,  all  these  latter  were  destroyed  by 
one  fell  swoop  of  King  Frost.  He  laid  his  icy  hand  on 
their  green  beauty,  and  blasted  them  into  dead,  bare 
trunks  in  one  night. 

Amongst  the  passengers  was  ex-Governor  Houston,  late 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Texas.  I  soon  made  his  acquaint 
ance,  and  found  him  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Southern 
gentleman,  without  affectation  or  "  side  "  of  any  sort. 
He  had  been  all  through  the  war  of  Texan  independence, 
and  had  seen  much  Indian  fighting  on  the  frontier.  The 
old  gentleman  was  said  to  be  the  wealthiest  man  in  the 
State,  owning  much  land  and  some  fine  cotton  planta 
tions,  and  about  three  hundred  negroes. 

He  had  been  to  South  Carolina  to  buy  slaves,  and  had 
seventy  of  them  on  board  with  him.  All  were  well  clad 
and  well  fed,  and  in  all  my  experience  I  never  saw  a 
jollier  lot  of  darkies.  But  then,  the  Governor  was  the 
best  of  masters.  It  was  quite  a  pleasure  to  see  how 
the  old  gentleman  and  his  son  treated  them.  Coming 
on  deck  in  the  morning,  they  would  gather  round  him, 
and  he  would  have  a  kindly  word  for  all,  men,  women 
and  childen,  and  it  was  evident  that  already  master  and 
slaves  were  on  most  friendly  terms.  If  all  masters  had 
been  like  Governor  Houston,  little  would  have  been  heard 
of  the  miseries  of  slavery  ;  but  of  course  the  trouble  Avas 
that  they  were  only  chattels  after  all,  and  when  they 


MAKING    ENQUIRIES  143 

passed  into  other  hands  their  lot  might  be  as  wretched 
as  it  was  then  happy. 

Whenever  I  met  any  one  from  Texas,  either  on  the 
cars  or  on  the  steamboats,  I  tried  to  glean  all  the  informa 
tion  I  could  about  the  country,  which  was  entirely  new 
to  me,  except  that  of  course  1  had  picked  up  what  know 
ledge  I  could  from  the  books  available.  From  Governor 
Houston  and  from  others,  but  especially  from  the 
former,  who  most  kindly  answered  all  my  many  questions, 
I  gathered  much  valuable  information. 

The  gist  of  it  was  that  on  some  parts  of  the  coast  cotton- 
growing  was  a  very  paying  industry,  but  required  more 
capital  than  we  could  command.  That  in  Galveston, 
Indianola,  and  other  coast  towns  there  were  fair  openings 
for  business,  but  the  climate  was  unhealthy  and  Yellow 
Jack  a  not  infrequent  visitor.  That  for  cattle-ranching 
the  best  region  was  in  Western  Texas,  about  the  Nueces 
and  Pecos  Rivers,  where  the  pasture  was  excellent,  and 
practically  unlimited  in  extent.  That,  owing  to  the 
drought,  stock  and  land  too  would  be  cheap. 

Of  course  there  were  drawbacks,  amongst  them  dis 
tance  from  markets,  and  Comanche  Indians  ;  i-n  fact  it 
was  not  quite  a  country  for  a  timid  man,  or  one  nervous 
about  his  scalp.  But  what  would  you  ?  You  can't 
have  everything  you  want  in  this  troublesome  and 
perverse  world,  and  I  was  much  tempted  to  try  my  luck 
in  the  West  country,  risks  notwithstanding. 

Galveston  seemed  a  busy  place,  though  not  much  to 
look  at,  for  most  of  the  houses  were  frame,  and  many 
unpainted. 

The  heat  was  more  intense  than  ever,  if  possible,  and 
most  of  the  folks  were  walking  about  under  umbrellas  ! 
I  delivered  a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  Mr.  Mills,  a 
wealthy  cotton-broker,  who  in  his  turn  kindly  gave  me 
introductions  to  Indianola  and  San  Antonio.  He  fully 
confirmed  what  I  had  heard  of  Western  Texas. 

By  5  p.m.  we  left  Galveston  for  Indianola,  by  steamer, 


144  KANSAS  TO  CANADA,  AND  THENCE  TO  TEXAS 

and  landed  at  the  latter  place  at  five  the  following 
morning.  Here  we  were  then,  after  all  our  travels, 
landed  on  the  threshold  of  our  El  Dorado.  All  that 
wide  land  was  before  us  to  choose  from.  Where  should 
wre  go,  and  what  should  we  do  ? 

The  Colonel  clung  rather  to  the  idea  of  a  town,  and 
business  of  some  kind  ;  my  inclinations  drew  me  to  the 
open  country,  and  the  free  ranching  life.  At  any  rate 
we  would  have  a  good  look  before  deciding. 


BOOK    III 

TEXAS,    1860—1862 


145  10 


CHAPTER    I 

PROSPECTING 

IT  was  on  August  5,  I860,  that  we  reached  Indianola, 
a  straggling  town  of  about  four  thousand  inhabitants, 
built  in  one  long,  thin  line  facing  the  sea,  and  of  rather 
attractive  appearance. 

It  was  with  high  hopes  for  the  future  that  I  stepped 
ashore  on  that  land  of  promise,  little  thinking  of  the 
awful  storm  of  war  gathering  so  fast  around  us,  and  which 
was  to  involve  me  and  my  fortunes  in  its  ruins.  Should 
I  have  turned  back  had  I  known  it  ?  I  suppose  not ;  for 
I  confess  that,  once  I  have  put  my  hand  to  the  plough, 
I  don't  like  turning  back.  Any  way,  I  was  in  happy 
ignorance  of  what  awaited  me,  and  I  don't  think  that 
any  one  in  the  South,  except  perhaps  some  few  of  the 
leaders,  expected  war  between  the  two  sections.  The 
majority  of  the  Southern  States  no  doubt  meant  to 
maintain  their  "  great  Institution,"  and  to  stand  firm 
for  the  principle  of  State  rights  ;  but  they  thought  the 
North  would  give  way,  as  it  had  before. 

Nearly  forty  years  have  passed  since  that  great  fight 
was  fought  out  to  the  bitter  end  ;  a  fight  such  as,  in  many 
respects,  the  world  had  never  seen  before,  with  its  furious 
rage,  and  slaughter  and  desolation.  And  now  it  is  almost 
forgotten  save  by  those  who  took  part  in  it  and  witnessed 
the  agony  of  the  struggle. 

I  volunteered  as  soon  as  the  State  declared  for  Secession, 
and  saw  a  good  bit  of  fighting  here  and  there,  under  the 
"  Lone  Star  "  flag.  But  as  regards  the  war,  which  has  so 

147 


148  PKOSPECTING 

often  been  depicted  in  all  its  heroic  details  by  abler  pens 
than  mine,  I  do  not  intend  to  dwell  upon  it ;  only  to  tell 
what  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes,  in  my  own  little  corner  of 
the  great  field  of  combat. 

One  reason  why  I  did  not  see  more  of  the  great  struggle 
was  that  during  part  of  the  time  it  was  in  progress 
I  was  much  engaged  in  Indian  fighting  on  the  frontier. 
Directly  the  U.S.  posts  were  abandoned,  or  captured 
by  our  forces,  the  Comanches,  one  of  the  most  war 
like  tribes  in  the  States,  and  always  more  or  less 
troublesome,  broke  loose,  and  began  harrying  the  out 
lying  ranches ;  murdering  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  sweeping  off  horses  and  cattle  wholesale.  To  stop 
this  as  far  as  possible  and  to  follow  up  these  murderous 
bands,  was  the  duty  I  was  so  often  engaged  on  ;  a  thank 
less  task  enough,  in  which  little  honour,  or  glory,  was  to 
be  gained,  but  which  involved  incessant  hard  work 
and  sleepless  vigilance.  For  the  Comanches,  on  the  war 
path,  were  all  mounted  on  wiry,  active  ponies.  Stark 
naked  as  the  day  they  were  born,  and  carrying  nothing 
but  their  bows  and  arrows  and  tomahawks,  and  riding 
bare-backed,  they  travelled  light  and  fast,  and  were  hard 
to  catch.  At  times  they  managed  to  retreat  to  the  hilly 
country  in  the  north,  where  the  rocky  character  of  the 
ground  made  it  almost  impossible  to  track  them,  and  we 
had  to  give  up  the  chase.  At  others  we  succeeded  in 
overtaking  them,  and  their  plunder,  when  they  generally 
showed  good  fight. 

Of  these  expeditions  I  shall  have  a  good  deal  to  tell  in 
their  proper  places,  but  now  I  must  get  on  with  my  story. 

The  first  thing  we  saw  in  Indianola  was  a  County 
election,  a  free-and-easy  affair,  the  polling-place  being 
in  the  bar  of  the  chief  hotel.  The  voting  was  by  ballot, 
but  there  was  not  much  secrecy  in  it,  as  drinks  were  going 
liberally,  and  the  voters  talked  loudly  of  their  favourite 
candidates.  There  we  were  introduced  to  many  of  the 
residents  by  a  Mr.  Harrison,  a  turtle  preserver  and  packer, 


A    SOUND    OF    RAIN  149 

to  whom  T  had  brought  an  introduction.  Everybody 
was  friendly,  and  hospitably  inclined,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  drinks  ;  so  that  the  difficulty  was  not  to  get 
enough,  but  to  avoid  getting  too  much,  without  giving 
offence.  The  intense  heat  and  drought  probably  led  the 
hospitable  Indianolans  to  wish  to  moisten  their  visitors  ; 
any  way,  they  wouldn't  let  you  "  go  long  between  your 
drinks." 

That  same  evening  we  went  out  to  Harrison's  turtle 
establishment,  and  were  shown  the  process  of  curing 
and  the  salt-water  reservoirs,  in  which  he  kept  some 
dozens  of  the  largest  turtle  I  ever  saw.  On  the  way  out, 
the  heavens  suddenly  grew  black  with  clouds.  There  was  a 
sound  of  rain.  The  long  drought  had  broken  up  ;  and,  just 
as  we  reached  the  house,  down  it  came  plump,  as  though 
out  of  a  vast  bucket.  The  change  it  wrought  was  mar 
vellous  ;  it  was  like  coming  out  of  a  hot  oven  into  a  cool, 
delicious  air,  and  we  sat  for  some  hours  in  a  room 
projecting  over  the  shallow  waters  of  the  bay,  drinking 
in  the  freshness.  I  am  bound  to  confess  there  were 
other  drinks  however,  and  it  was  late  before  our  kindly 
host  would  let  us  return  to  the  town. 

This  was  the  first  rain  since  early  in  April,  we  were 
told.  Four  months  of  drought  in  a  burning  heat  like  that ! 
No  wonder  the  people  and  the  land,  were  thirsty  ! 

We  hung  about  in  Indianola  till  August  20,  undecided 
what  to  turn  our  hands  to  ;  at  one  time  thinking  of 
buying  a  steamboat,  to  trade  along  the  coast,  and  then 
of  starting  a  store.  But  these  prospects  came  to  nothing, 
so,  weary  of  inaction,  I  insisted  on  leaving  by  stage  for 
Victoria,  about  twenty-four  miles  distant,  the  following 
day,  to  see  what  the  country  was  like  in  that  direction. 
It  had  rained  almost  incessantly  during  our  stay,  till  our 
hotel,  and  the  slightly  raised  ground  on  which  it  stood, 
became  an  island,  accessible  only  by  wading.  The  roads 
therefore  were  in  a  frightful  state,  and  the  four  good  mules 
in  the  stage  could  only  get  us  along  a  mile  an  hour. 


150  PROSPECTING 

It  was  Court  day  in  Victoria,  and  crowds  of  people, 
bad  roads  and  weather  notwithstanding,  came  in.  If  we 
were  to  prospect  the  country,  we  must  have  horses,  and 
here  was  the  chance  to  buy  ;  for  there  were  plenty  for 
sale,  though  most,  owing  to  the  drought,  were  in  bad 
condition.  At  last  wo  found  two  pretty  good-looking 
half-breeds,  one  four,  and  the  other  five  years  old.  The 
former  had  only  been  backed  a  few  times,  but  the  latter 
was  "  gentled,"  and  would  suit  the  Colonel.  I  found  my 
animal  not  only  difficult  to  mount,  but  not  easy  to  sit 
when  you  were  up,  for  he  was  one  of  the  worst  buck- 
jumpers  I  ever  rode.  His  late  owner  wanted  to  bet  he 
would  throw  me  before  I  could  ride  him  a  mile,  but  when 
I  offered  to  take  him  up  for  all  the  loose  cash  he  had,  he 
backed  out. 

Next  we  bought  a  Texan  outfit — saddles,  saddle-bags, 
bridles,  etc. — and  started  the  following  day  for  Goliad 
County,  thirty  miles  distant.  For  two  miles  the  road 
lay  along  the  Colets  River,  through  mud  almost  deep 
enough  to  bog  you  ;  then  we  crossed  to  the  opposite  bank 
and  came  out  on  a  prairie,  high  and  dry,  on  which  the 
grass  was  just  starting.  In  the  crossing  the  Colonel 
nearly  came  to  bad  grief,  for  the  river  was  in  slight  flood, 
and  in  the  middle  his  horse  got  into  a  quicksand  and 
went  under.  But  the  water  fortunately  was  only  breast 
high,  and  the  Colonel  got  clear  of  his  fallen  horse  with 
an  agility  that  surprised  me,  so  that  nothing  worse  than  a 
bad  ducking  befell  him. 

Arrived  at  Goliad  Court  House  we  determined  to 
prospect  the  country  about  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
Nueces  River,  an  affluent  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

But  perhaps  I  had  better  explain  what  we  were  looking 
for.  It  was  a  good  ranch  with  plenty  of  grass  and  water, 
and  not  too  many  cattle  on  it.  No  one  in  Western  Texas 
cultivated  the  land  ;  the  climate  was  far  too  dry  for  that, 
and  during  all  the  years  I  lived  in  the  State  I  never  tried 
to  make  even  a  garden.  It  would  have  been  labour  in 


OUR    CAMP    "FIXINGS"  151 

vain.  The  whole  country,  therefore,  was  open  and 
unenclosed,  save  for  the  few  acres  round  each  ranch 
usrd  for  cattle-pens,  or  corrals,  which  the  rancher  had 
bought ;  so  cattle  and  horses  roamed  over  it  at  their 
own  sweet  wills,  and  he  who  owned  fifty  acres  had  just  as 
good  a  chance  as  he  who  owned  many  leagues,  if  he 
hadn't  too  many  neighbours. 

Though  the  country  was  good  for  cattle  we  found  it 
too  heavily  stocked  for  our  purpose,  and  so  struck  across 
to  another  stream — the  Agua  Dulce — via  Banquetta. 

Hitherto  we  had  put  up  at  the  ranches  we  came  to, 
but  now  made  up  our  minds  to  camp  out  and  be  inde 
pendent  ;  far  the  best  way  to  see  a  new  country.  So 
at  Banquetta  I  bought  a  good  Spanish  horse,  to  carry 
our  pack,  for  $30,  and  then  at  the  store  got  the  camp 
"  fixings  "  and  provisions  necessary.  The  Colonel  left 
it  all  to  me,  in  simple  faith,  though  he  soon  regretted 
his  confidence  when  he  discovered  how  lightly  equipped 
I  meant  to  travel.  The  fixings  were  two  pint  tin  cups, 
to  serve  as  coffee-pots,  buckets  and  cups  ;  two  blankets, 
and  two  overcoats.  The  provisions  were  1  Ib.  of  coffee, 
some  sugar,  hard  bread,  or  biscuit,  and  a  lump  of 
bacon.  All  these  were  put  in  a  sack  and,  with  our 
saddle-bags,  blankets  and  coats,  fastened  pack-fashion 
on  the  led  horse. 

For  miles  and  miles  we  rode  over  a  flat  country  with 
plenty  of  grass,  though  little  timber,  steering  by  compass, 
and  seeing  no  one  but  a  Mexican  or  two,  but  always 
plenty  of  deer.  By  sundown  we  came  to  a  creek,  with 
water  and  grass.  There  we  stripped  our  tired  horses, 
and  picketed  them.  Very  soon  I  had  a  brew  of  coffee 
ready,  and  slices  of  bacon  roasting  on  sharp  sticks  over 
the  fire.  A  camp  supper  good  enough  for  anybody  ; 
at  least  so  I  thought,  and  heartily  enjoyed  it.  Not  so 
the  Colonel,  who,  not  used  to  camp  fare,  grumbled 
ruefully  at  the  scantiness  of  the  provender. 

Then  I  spread  my  blanket  under  me  and,  with  my 


152  PROSPECTING 

Mexican  saddle  for  a  pillow  and  the  starlit  heavens  for 
a  canopy,  soon  fell  asleep  in  the  balmy  air  of  the  summer 
night,  and  stirred  not  till  peep  of  day.  My  unfortunate 
friend  was  awake  too,  and  declared  he  had  scarcely 
slept  a  wink  the  whole  night  :  the  ground  was  so  hard, 
and  the  mosquitoes  so  troublesome  ! 

The  second  day  out  we  got  into  a  waterless  country, 
and  one  that  had  been  pillaged  and  overrun  by  Cortinas 
and  his  thieving,  murdering  Mexican  guerillas.  For 
a  day  and  a  night,  in  the  burning  heat,  we  rode  without 
a  drop  of  water,  and  it  was  only  when  we  and  our  un 
fortunate  horses  were  clean  done  up,  and  could  scarcely 
move,  that  we  came  out  of  a  dense  grove  of  chaparral 
right  on  a  Mexican  ranch  with  a  good  well  of  water.  I 
can  remember  that  drink  of  cool  spring  water  now, 
as  one  of  the  best  I  ever  had. 

For  two  or  three  days  more  we  traversed  that  district, 
taking  great  care  not  to  go  so  long  between  our  drinks 
again  ;  and  then,  having  satisfied  ourselves  that  it  wouldn't 
do  for  us,  turned  south  to  Corpus  Christi  on  the  Gulf, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Nueces  River.  This  was  partly  to 
interview  an  important  business  man  to  whom  I  had  an 
introduction,  and  partly  to  replenish  stores,  etc.,  before 
taking  a  further  plunge  into  the  wild  prairie  country  of 
the  west  of  the  State. 

Corpus,  or  rather  the  upper  part  of  it,  is  a  typical  old 
Spanish  town,  with  some  fine  churches  and  other  buildings, 
but  as  sleepy  and  dirty  as  are  all  Spanish  towns  I  have  seen. 
The  bulk  of  the  people  were  Mexicans,  or  "  Greasers," 
as  they  were  always  called  in  Texas ;  but  there  was  a 
good  sprinkling  of  Americans  in  the  lower,  or  business 
part.  I  remember  things  were  rather  lively  in  the 
American  part,  for  some  men  had  been  shot  in  an  election 
row  ;  a  Vigilance  Committee  had  been  formed  who  were 
administering  Lynch  law  with  much  vigour,  and  perhaps 
not  quite  so  much  discrimination  as  could  be  wished. 
Therefore  it  behoved  one  to  walk  warily,  and  not  express 


A    CHANCE    MEETING  153 

one's  opinions  too  freely,  lest  contempt  of  Court  should 
be  committed,  which  is  a  serious  matter  within  Judge 
Lynch's  jurisdiction. 

By  the  afternoon  of  September  4,  the  day  after 
our  arrival,  we  had  finished  our  business,  and  started 
with  a  well-laden  pack-horse,  on  what  would  probably 
be  a  month's  ride,  to  thoroughly  explore  the  country 
fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  up  the  Nueces  River,  which  by 
all  accounts  was  the  ranching  district  we  wanted.  Before 
leaving  the  town  I  bought  a  double-barrelled  shot-gun, 
with  which  to  take  toll  of  the  deer  ;  for  I  felt  that  the 
Colonel  would  no  longer  endure,  without  revolt,  an  un 
varied  diet  of  biscuit  and  bacon.  Moreover  he  had 
so  hungrily  eyed  the  bunches  we  passed  on  the  previous 
trip,  that  it  was  only  fair  he  should  taste  venison  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  knew  he  would  be  disillusioned 
when  he  did  taste  it,  for  it  is  the  driest  of  meats ; 
but  he  must  have  his  chance  of  forming  his  opinion 
of  it. 

Riding  leisurely  along  that  hot  afternoon  we  were 
overtaken  by  a  man  well  mounted,  and  armed,  with 
whom  I  soon  struck  up  an  acquaintance.  He  was  a 
very  pleasant,  cheery  fellow,  and  as  our  roads  lay  to 
gether  till  we  reached  a  ranch  some  miles  ahead,  we 
became  quite  friendly,  and  parted,  I  think,  with  mutual 
regret.  He  told  me  his  name  was  Davis,  and  that  he 
was  a  lawyer  in  Corpus  Christi. 

What  strange  coincidences  and  unexpected  meetings 
there  are  in  this  world  !  Here  was  a  man  casually  met 
on  the  wide  prairie,  chatted  with  for  an  hour  or  two, 
then  parted  from  ;  neither  of  us  expecting  to  see  the 
other  again.  But  Fate  willed  it  otherwise,  and  we 
were  to  meet  again  twice  in  this  mortal  life.  At  that 
second  meeting,  the  story  of  which  is  rather  strange, 
and  will  be  told  in  its  proper  place,  my  friend  probably 
owed  his  life  to  oui*  casual  meeting  on  the  prairie  near 
Corpus  Christi. 


154  PROSPECTING 

Well,  for  the  best  part  of  a  month  we  rode  over  the 
country  between  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Nueces,  and 
finding  nothing  to  suit  us,  struck  north  to  Castro ville, 
a  small  town  on  the  Medina  River,  twenty-five  miles 
west  of  San  Antonio.  Occasionally  we  put  up  at  a 
ranch,  to  get  information  or  to  replenish  our  stock  of 
provisions,  but  generally  camped  out.  Thompson's  lust 
for  flesh  was  fairly  satisfied  since,  with  the  gun,  we 
could  get  as  many  mule-eared  rabbits  as  we  wanted,  and 
every  now  and  then  a  deer  ;  but  the  lying  out  on  the 
hard  ground  and  the  ever-present  mosquitoes  were  a 
sore  trial  to  him.  So  was  our  pack  pony  too.  His 
manners,  when  first  we  made  his  acquaintance,  were  not 
perfect,  and  did  not  improve  with  time.  Possibly,  with 
the  marvellous  instinct  of  his  race,  he  had  found  out  that 
the  Colonel,  whose  office  it  was  to  personally  conduct 
him  at  the  end  of  a  long  lariat,  was  no  horseman  and, 
in  his  secret  soul,  somewhat  afraid  of  his  charge.  Any 
way,  the  little  demon  took  advantage  of  his  conductor 
with  fiendish  ingenuity.  Sometimes  he  would  hang 
back  and  refuse  to  budge  ;  at  others,  taking  the  poor 
Colonel  unawares,  run  round  and  round  him,  winding 
him  up  in  the  toils  of  the  lariat  till  he  was  quite  helpless, 
and  then  drag  him  out  of  his  saddle.  I  never  saw  any 
thing  more  comical  than  my  poor  friend  in  this  plight ; 
but  his  language  was  unfit  for  publication,  and  I  verily 
believe  he  entertained  the  same  vengeful  thoughts 
against  the  pony  as  Balaam  of  old  against  his  quadruped. 
But  the  old  fellow  was  good-nature  itself,  and  his  wrath 
was  soon  appeased. 

From  Castroville,  finding  nothing  to  suit  us,  we  made 
for  the  Bandera  Creek  country,  forty  miles  north,  riding 
through  the  pass  of  that  name,  where  shortly  before 
there  had  been  a  desperate  fight  between  the  Indians 
and  a  detachment  of  U.S.  troops  and  some  settlers. 
The  former  were  badly  "  whipped,"  but  the  latter  lost 
a  good  many  killed,  as  could  be  seen  from  the  number 


VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S    WORK          155 

of  little  wooden  crosses  dotted  about  round  the  scene 
of  conflict. 

This  was  quite  different  from  any  country  we  had 
previously  seen  ;  high  rolling  prairie,  almost  hilly,  with 
much  dwarf-oak  timber  and  sedge  grass,  through 
which  the  Bandera  River  ran,  a  beautiful  clear  stream 
shaded  by  great  cedars.  A  lovely  country  to  look  upon, 
but  not  good  for  ranching,  it  seemed  to  me. 

Having  seen  enough  of  that  section,  lovely  and  pic 
turesque  as  it  was,  we  saddled  up  and  departed,  via  the 
Cibollo  and  Salado  Creeks,  for  San  Antonio.  That  night 
we  camped  near  a  water-hole,  on  a  rolling  prairie  with 
little  grass,  not  far  from  the  Salado.  We  hobbled  the 
Colonel's  enemy  the  pony  but  let  the  horses  loose,  and 
in  the  morning  they  had  vanished.  I  saddled  the  pony 
and  started  to  hunt  them  up,  leaving  Thompson  in 
charge  of  the  camp. 

The  ground  was  dry  and  hard,  and  the  trail  difficult 
to  follow ;  but  I  tracked  it  to  the  Salado  Creek,  on  either 
side  of  which  was  a  good  deal  of  timber  and  thick  brush, 
in  which  I  completely  lost  it.  Slowly  making  my  way 
through  the  dense  undergrowth  for  the  crossing  for 
San  Antonio,  I  put  up  hundreds  of  turkey-buzzards 
quite  close  to  me.  Looking  round  for  the  dead  steer 
I  supposed  they  were  feasting  on,  I  was  suddenly  aware 
of  two  men  hanging  from  a  live-oak  tree  just  in  front 
of  me.  Torn  and  mangled,  almost  out  of  the  semblance 
of  poor  humanity,  by  the  loathsome  birds  of  prey,  they 
were  the  most  gruesome,  horrible  sight  I  ever  saw,  and 
with  one  glance  I  made  off  as  fast  as  my  pony  could 
scramble. 

In  San  Antonio  I  learned  the  poor  wretches  were 
horse- thieves,  who  had  been  caught  and  hanged  by  the 
Vigilance  Committee  about  a  week  before. 

I  shall  have  more  to  say  later  on  about  this  same 
committee,  and  its  deeds  of  ruthless  murder  ;  indeed 
I  could  fill  pages  with  the  tales  of  its  crimes,  only  they 


166  PROSPECTING 

would  then  be  too  full  of  bloodshed.  Without  that,  I 
shall  have  to  draw  a  very  lurid  picture  of  the  state  of 
things  in  Texas  as  I  saw  it  ;  when  lawless  men  were 
a  law  unto  themselves,  and  did  such  deeds  that  one 
shudders  to  remember  them. 

Having  lost  all  trace  of  the  horses,  I  made  for  San 
Antonio,  and  found  it  the  largest  and  busiest  place  T 
had  yet  seen  in  Texas.  At  the  livery  stable,  the  boss 
found  me  a  little  dried-up  Mexican  vacquero  who,  he 
said,  for  $10  would  find  my  horses,  if  they  had  not  been 
stolen,  and  were  still  on  earth.  I  struck  the  bargain 
with  the  old  fellow,  "  no  cure  no  pay,"  and  sure  enough 
he  brought  in  iny  lost  property  the  next  evening  ! 

I  had  left  Thompson  all  by  himself  in  camp  for  two 
days  and  a  night,  and  he  hadn't  had  a  very  lively  time, 
being  convinced  that  I  was  lost.  For  his  own  part  he 
knew  he  was  lost  too,  for  he  had  no  idea  of  finding  his 
way  across  a  pathless  prairie,  and  was  consequently 
delighted  to  see  me  turn  up  with  the  missing  steeds. 
The  old  fellow  had  not  been  short  of  food,  for  he  had 
shot,  and  eaten,  several  mule-eared  rabbits. 

We  now  struck  across  the  prairie  to  the  Medio  Creek, 
situated  about  fifteen  miles  from  San  Antonio,  and  on 
the  El  Paso  road  to  Mexico.  There  was  a  ranch  there 
which,  from  what  we  had  heard,  seemed  desirable. 
After  a  good  look  round  we  concluded  to  buy,  if  the 
price  was  right,  though  for  different  reasons  :  my  friend 
because  it  was  an  admirable  site  for  a  store,  being  close 
to  the  crossing  of  the  Medio.  where  most  of  the  trains 
passing  to  and  from  Mexico  camped  ;  I  because  I  thought 
it  a  fair  cattle  ranch,  with  plenty  of  water  and  enough 
grass.  There  were  a  thousand  acres  of  it,  belonging 
to  a  widow  in  Castroville,  who,  we  were  told,  was  anxious 
to  sell. 

We  soon  came  to  terms  with  the  widow,  and,  finding 
her  title  good,  paid  her  $1  an  acre  for  her  property. 
Next,  having  engaged  two  German  carpenters  to  put 


SECESSION   IN   TEXAS  157 

up  the  buildings  we  wanted,  I  rode  off  to  the  Atacosa 
country,  about  sixty  miles  from  San  Antonio,  and 
bought  250  cows  and  5  bulls  as  a  beginning. 

We  both,  I  think,  were  well  pleased  with  our  new 
possessions ;  certainly  the  Colonel  was  delighted  to 
find  rest  for  the  sole  of  his  foot,  for  he  was  heartily 
weary  of  prospecting  and  all  its  hardships,  and  I  was 
glad  to  have  made  a  fresh  start  at  last. 

Throughout  December  1860,  and  January  and  February 
1861,  we  lived  in  our  camp,  superintending  the  building 
operations  and  looking  after  our  cattle,  but  early  in 
March  the  Secession  movement  in  Texas,  which  had 
long  been  gathering  in  force,  culminated  in  an  attack 
on  the  U.S.  troops  in  San  Antonio,  and  I  threw  in 
my  lot  with  the  South  as  a  Volunteer. 

I  do  not  propose  to  dilate  further  upon  the  causes  of 
the  dreadful  Civil  War,  now  on  the  point  of  breaking  out, 
which  have  been  argued  out  so  fully  on  both  sides  ; 
nor  to  attempt  to  apportion  the  blame  for  the  internecine 
strife  which  slew  so  many  hecatombs  of  men,  and  de 
vastated  some  of  the  fairest  regions  of  the  earth.  All 
I  will  say  is  that  we  of  the  South  believed  in  our  very 
souls  that  our  cause  was  a  just  one.  We  made  a  brave 
fight,  as  I  think  all  the  world  allows,  for  what  we  thought 
our  rights,  and,  losing,  paid  the  penalty  for  our  mistake, 
if  mistake  it  were,  to  the  uttermost  farthing. 

The  excitement  throughout  the  South  had  been 
growing  day  by  day  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  I860,  and  when  in  November  of  that  year  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  elected  President,  it  blazed  out  into  Secession, 
South  Carolina  taking  the  plunge  into  civil  war  by 
firing  on,  and  capturing,  Fort  Sumter. 

In  Texas  the  Secession  movement  was  somewhat  com 
plicated  and  confused  by  the  action  of  Governor  Houston. 
He  it  was  who  had  brought  the  State  into  the  Union,  for 
when  first  freed  from  Mexican  rule  it  had  set  up  as  an 
independent  Republic.  When  therefore  it  became  clear 


158  PKOSPECTING 

that  the  South  meant  to  cut  herself  loose  from  the  North, 
Houston  conceived  the  idea  of  keeping  Texas  out  of  the 
confederacy,  making  her  once  more  independent,  and 
conquering  Mexico  ;  which  seems  to  show  that  he  had 
more  daring  than  foresight.  However,  when  he  refused 
to  recognise  the  act  of  the  State  Convention,  ratifying 
the  ordinance  of  Secession,  that  body  declared  his  office 
vacant,  and  so  an  end  of  him  and  his  schemes. 

But  I  must  go  back  to  the  beginnings  of  things,  at 
least  as  far  as  I  was  concerned. 

Though  I  was  of  course  aware  that  the  feeling  between 
North  and  South  was  getting  more  and  more  embittered, 
I  was  too  busy  that  season  prospecting  to  give  much  heed 
to  politics,  and,  if  I  thought  of  them  at  all,  believed  the 
heat  would  cool  down  again,  as  it  had  so  often  done 
before.  I  had  seen  things  pretty  warm  in  Kansas,  but 
nothing  had  come  of  it  all ;  so  I  went  about  my  business, 
thinking  it  was  a  wrangle  amongst  the  politicians  which 
would  settle  itself  in  due  course.  This  merely  shows  how 
little  outsiders  know  of  what  is  passing  around  them,  and 
how  difficult  it  is  to  judge  of  the  awful  forces  lying  hidden 
in  the  deeply  stirred  political  passions  of  a  nation.  For 
here  was  I,  and  many  thousands  like  me,  on  the  very  verge 
of  one  of  the  greatest  cataclysms  of  modern  times  and 
wholly  ignorant  of  its  imminence  ! 

It  wras  about  the  end  of  October  that  I  got  the  first 
inkling  of  what  was  going  on.  The  Presidential  election 
campaign  was  then  in  full  swing,  and  Thompson  and  I 
rode  into  San  Antonio  to  attend  a  great  political  meeting, 
held  in  the  Alamo  Plaza.  There  was  a  vast  crowd  assem 
bled,  in  which  parties  were  fairly  evenly  divided,  for  there 
was  a  considerable  German  population  in  the  town  and 
neighbourhood,  which  was  Northern,  or  Unionist,  to  a 
man,  while  all  the  "  Boys "  were  of  course  strongly 
Southern.  There  were  all  the  inflammable  materials 
gathered  together,  only  wanting  a  spark  to  set  them 
ablaze. 


THE    ALAMO    PLAZA    MEETING  159 

At  one  end  of  the  Plaza  was  a  long  platform  for  the 
speakers,  and  behind  it  the  Menger  Hotel,  from  which 
floated  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  so  soon  to  be  displaced  by 
the  "  Lone  Star  "  flag.  A  well-known  and  very  popular 
Episcopal  Methodist  Bishop,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten, 
made  a  most  eloquent  speech  calling  upon  all  who  were 
men  to  stand  up  for  their  sacred  rights,  and  to  defend 
their  cherished  institutions  from  the  intolerable  arrogance 
of  the  Northeners.  He  set  the  hearts  of  the  Southern 
men  on  fire  by  his  strong  appeals  to  their  local  patriotism, 
and  the  excitement  rose  to  fever  heat.  Revolver  shots 
were  fired  in  the  air,  whilst  through  the  square  rang 
frantic  yells  of  "  Down  with  the  Yankees  ;  to  h — 11 
with  the  Abolitionists." 

In  the  midst  of  this  up  rose  a  Mr.  Anderson,  a  man  of 
wealth  and  education,  who  had  been  U.S.  Consul  at 
Constantinople.  He  was  a  fearless  man,  for  he  must 
have  known  that  to  make  a  "  spread  eagle  "  speech  to 
such  a  crowd  was  almost  more  than  his  life  was  worth. 
Nevertheless  he  pluckily  essayed  to  do  it ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  "  Boys  "  realised  his  drift,  six-shooters  in  hand, 
and  with  one  wild  yell,  they  stormed  the  platform  and 
swept  it  clear  of  friends  and  foes.  Then  the  shooting 
grew  unpleasantly  promiscuous,  and  Thompson  and  I 
cleared  out  as  best  we  might,  and  luckily,  unscathed. 
There  was  more  shooting  than  killing,  I  believe,  for  the 
Unionists  showed  but  little  fight ;  but  the  Colonel  was 
horror-stricken  at  the  wild  scene,  and  vowed  never  to 
go  to  an  election  meeting  again  as  long  as  he  lived — at 
least,  not  in  America. 

An  association  called  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle 
had  by  this  time  its  ramifications  all  over  the  South,  and 
was  particularly  strong  in  Eastern  Texas.  Ostensibly 
formed  to  protect  Southern  rights,  its  real  object  was  to 
bring  about  Secession,  and  all  its  weight  was  thrown  into 
that  movement. 

It  had   "  lodges  "  everywhere,  with  secret  signs,  and 


160  PROSPECTING 

passwords,  and  all  its  members  were  under  semi-military 
discipline.  The  night  of  the  great  meeting  I  have  de 
scribed,  I  joined  the  San  Antonio  lodge  of  the  K.G.C., 
and  in  so  doing  committed  myself  as  a  strong  partisan 
of  the  Southern  cause. 

But  Thompson  wisely  held  aloof,  as  indeed  he  did  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  two  years  after,  telling  every  one 
that  he  was  an  Englishman,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with 
their  quarrels.  For  the  credit  of  the  people,  wild  and 
lawless  as  they  were,  I  must  say  no  one  ever  molested  or 
reproached  him  on  this  account ;  but  on  the  contrary, 
being  a  good-natured,  pleasant  fellow,  he  was  well  liked 
and  popular  wherever  he  went.  Had  I  but  taken  the 
same  calm,  common-sense  view,  what  a  difference  it 
would  have  made  to  my  future  ! 


CHAPTER    II  ; 

AN   INDIAN   FORAY 

AT  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  San  Antonio  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  U.S.  troops  in  Texas,  where  many 
forts  and  posts  were  held  to  keep  the  Indians  in  check 
and  to  guard  the  Mexican  frontier.  At  the  time  of  my 
arrival  in  the  country,  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee,  as  he  then 
was,  held  the  command  of  the  Texas  military  district,  and 
I  had  the  pleasure  and  honour  of  an  introduction  to  him 
on  one  of  my  first  visits  to  San  Antonio.  It  was  after  the 
Episcopal  Church  service,  held  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  that 
an  acquaintance  of  mine  made  me  known  to  him.  We 
chatted  for  a  few  minutes,  and  I  never  saw  him  again, 
though  I  served  under  him  in  a  subordinate  capacity  when 
he  so  gloriously  commanded  the  Confederate  forces. 

Let  me  briefly  describe  him,  as  he  appeared  to  me  that 
Sunday  morning,  Tall,  and  somewhat  spare  in  figure, 
with  a  soldierly  bearing  that  revealed  his  profession  at  a 
glance,  he  looked,  what  indeed  he  was,  every  inch  a  gentle 
man.  Courteous,  and  dignified  in  manner,  but  without 
the  slightest  assumption,  he  was  beloved  by  all  who  came 
within  the  charm  of  his  personal  influence.  At  this  time 
he  was  about  fifty-three  years  of  age,  but  his  dark  hair 
was  untinged  with  grey,  and  his  blue  eyes  were  bright 
and  undimmed  beneath  his  black  eyebrows.  It  is  said 
that  the  bitter  struggle  between  his  duty  to  his  country, 
in  whose  service  he  had  already  spent  thirty  years  of  his 
life,  and  his  duty  to  his  State  (he  was  of  the  bluest  blood 
in  Virginia)  aged  him  rapidly.  The  awful  responsibility 

ici  11 


162  AN    INDIAN    FORAY 

of  the  high  command  he  held  throughout  the  war,  and 
the  misfortunes  of  the  cause  for  which  he  so  nobly  fought, 
were  enough  to  bow  down  any  man. 

But  if  they  changed  his  face  and  bent  his  form,  they 
left  his  soul  untouched  and  still  attuned  to  the  lofty  ideal 
of  duty  he  followed  as  his  guide  through  all  his  life.  I 
think  there  is  no  other  man  who  has  appeared  on  the 
world's  stage  worthy  to  be  compared  with  him,  save  our 
own  General  Gordon.  To  both,  self  was  nothing  and  duty 
everything  ;  and  both  were  "  without  fear,  and  without 
reproach." 

Colonel  Lee  left  Texas  early  in  1861,  called  to  Washing 
ton  by  the  President,  who  offered  him  the  supreme  com 
mand  of  the  Federal  army.  But  he  could  not  fight  against 
his  State,  or  the  cause  he  deemed  to  be  just,  and  resigned 
his  commission  in  a  most  touching  letter  addressed  to 
General  Scott,  his  old  comrade  in  arms  and  commander, 
dated  April  20,  1861.  This  is  given  in  extenso  in  the 
Life  and  Campaigns  of  General  Lee.  written  by  his 
nephew,  E.  Lee  Childe,  p.  32. 

Colonel  Lee  was  succeeded  at  San  Antonio  by  General 
Twig,  a  very  different  man.  His  command  comprised  a 
regiment  of  the  U.S.  infantry,  two  batteries  of  artil 
lery,  and  a  company  of  cavalry,  posted  in  a  strong  fort 
just  west  of,  but  adjoining,  the  town.  In  the  fort  were 
great  quantities  of  military  stores  and  munitions  of  war, 
and  these  our  newly  established  Government  was  par 
ticularly  anxious  to  capture.  So  in  the  early  days  of 
March,  1861,  the  "  Committee  of  Safety  "  made  an  urgent 
call  for  volunteers,  which  was  promptly  responded  to 
by  all  the  K.G.C.  lodges  in  Eastern  Texas,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  by  those  in  the  west  of  the  State. 

Colonel  Ben  McCullogh  had  been  commissioned  as 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  State  forces,  and  soon  moved 
to  within  a  few  miles  of  San  Antonio  with  two  thousand 
men,  mostly  mounted.  There  he  camped,  and  was 
speedily  reinforced  by  five  hundred  more  volunteers,  of 


GENERAL   TWIG   NO    FIGHTER  163 

whom  I  was  one  ;   for  though  our  ranch  and  corrals  were 
still  unfinished,  I  felt  I  must  obey  the  call  to  arms. 

It  was  a  formidable  force  mustered  in  that  camp,  for 
though  it  couldn't  boast  much  discipline,  all  the  men 
were  well  mounted,  and  most  of  them  expert  rifle  and 
revolver  shots.  With  just  a  little  training,  what  a  brigade 
of  irregular  cavalry  it  would  have  made  !  We  were  not 
encumbered  by  our  supply  train,  for  each  man  was  his  own 
commissariat  department,  and  carried  his  own  rations  in 
his  "  malletas." 

The  night  I  joined,  orders  were  issued  that  we  were  to 
parade  at  eleven  o'clock  dismounted,  and  march  the  three 
miles  into  San  Antonio  to  attack  the  fort.  The  position, 
as  I  have  said,  was  a  strong  one,  and  could  have  easily 
been  held  by  General  Twig  had  he  had  any  fight  in  him, 
for  we  had  no  artillery.  We  of  the  rank  and  file  fully 
expected  a  sharp  tussle,  not  only  with  the  U.S.  troops  but 
with  the  Germans,  who  made  up  quite  half  the  population 
of  the  town.  Our  leaders,  I  suspect,  knew  better. 

Marching  in  columns  of  companies,  and  in  dead  silence 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  we  went  right  into  the  town 
without  encountering  even  a  picket-guard.  This  was 
singular  enough,  and  didn't  look  much  as  if  Twig  meant 
fighting.  Our  commander,  however,  played  the  game  as 
though  it  were  in  earnest,  and  occupied  every  command 
ing  position  as  he  advanced.  My  company,  eighty  strong, 
was  ordered  to  take  post  on  the  flat  roofs  of  those  Mexican 
houses,  the  fire  from  which  would  command  the  whole 
of  the  Alamo  Plaza.  We  got  up  easily  enough  without 
any  opposition,  and  there  we  stood  with  loaded  rifles  for 
four  mortal  hours,  and  still  no  shot  was  fired,  though 
every  moment  we  expected  the  ball  would  open.  At 
7  a.m.  the  mystery  was  explained,  for  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  hauled  down  from  the  fort  and  the  "  Lone 
Star  "  flag  floated  in  their  place  amidst  the  wild  cheers 
and  hurrahs  of  all  our  "  Boys." 

General  Twig  had  surrendered,  without  a  blow  for  the 


164  AN    INDIAN    FORAY 

honour  of  his  flag,  eleven  hundred  troops,  three  batteries 
of  artillery,  and  about  $3,000,000  worth  of  stores  and 
equipment  of  all  sorts.  What  became  of  him  I  know 
not,  but  rather  fancy  he  would  hardly  care  to  report 
himself  at  the  Northern  Headquarters. 

After  a  bit  of  a  spree  in  the  town,  to  celebrate  our 
bloodless,  but  glorious,  victory,  we  were  marched  back 
to  camp  and  there  dismissed,  each  one  to  his  own  abode. 
Before  midnight  I  was  back  at  our  camp  on  the  Medio, 
to  Thompson's  great  surprise,  for  he  had  prophesied  all 
sorts  of  evil  concerning  our  enterprise,  and  in  his  heart 
never  expected  to  see  me  alive  again. 

Though  Texas  had  not  as  yet  joined  the  infant  Con 
federacy,  she  had  waged  war  against  the  United  States, 
and  must  be  prepared  for  eventualities.  Therefore  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  shortly  after  the  capture  of  San 
Antonio,  called  for  mounted  riflemen,  to  volunteer  for 
three  months'  service. 

About  the  middle  of  March  I  joined  a  company  mustered 
in  by  T.  Paul,  under  a  Commission  from  the  Committee. 
We  were  forty  in  number,  all  good  men  and  well  armed, 
and  reported  at  Castro ville. 

Paul  had,  in  bygone  times,  held  a  commission  in  the 
Texas  Navy,  a  fleet  which  I  suppose  no  one  in  this  country 
ever  heard  of  before,  but  he  was  an  old  frontiersman  and 
a  fighting  man,  which  was  the  main  thing  for  us.  He 
was  the  only  commissioned  officer  in  the  company,  and 
appointed  me  at  once  orderly  sergeant.  Directly  we 
were  mustered  we  went  into  camp  on  the  Medina  River, 
in  an  old  Mormon  settlement,  where  there  were  several 
solid  stone  houses  and  a  mill.  The  Mormons  had  estab 
lished  themselves  on  the  Medina  at  the  time  that  the 
main  body  of  their  curious  co-religionists  were  settled  in 
Nauvoo  ;  but  when  the  general  movement  was  made 
against  that  body  in  the  States,  these  folks,  like  the  rest 
of  them,  had  to  trek  to  Salt  Lake. 

Whatever  else  they  are,  the  Mormons  are  first-class 


THE    MARCH    TO    VAL    VERDE  165 

organisers  in  a  new  country,  and  know  how  to  make 
themselves  comfortable.  Nothing  could  be  better  than 
the  spot  they  had  chosen  here,  and  they  had  made  the 
most  of  it ;  and  we  could  not  but  be  grateful  to  them  for 
the  excellent  shelter  the  old  fellows  had  provided  for  us 
against  the  keen,  cold  norther  blowing. 

That  night  Paul  told  us  his  orders  were  to  march  at 
daybreak  to  Val  Verde,  forty  miles  distant,  to  attack 
that  post,  which  was  held  by  a  detachment  of  U.S. 
cavalry.  How  many  of  the  enemy  he  would  find  he 
didn't  know,  but  thought  there  were  not  many  more  than 
our  number.  It  seemed  rather  a  large  order,  but  the 
"  Boys  "  were  in  high  spirits  and  eager  for  a  fight.  Before 
daybreak  our  small  bugler  had  roused  the  camp,  and 
by  sun-up  we  had  drunk  our  coffee  and  were  off  on  our 
long  ride. 

Our  route  lay,  for  the  most  part,  by  bridle-paths  along 
side  the  Medina  River,  which  ran  swift  and  clear  between 
high  cedar-clad  ridges.  We  took  all  proper  precautions, 
and  had  scouts  well  ahead,  whilst  every  man  rode  with 
his  loaded  rifle  across  the  horns  of  his  saddle  and  his 
six-shooter  in  his  belt  ready  for  use.  But  perforce  we 
had  to  ride  in  srngle  file,  and  a  dozen  plucky  men,  properly 
posted  in  some  of  the  narrow  defiles,  could  easily  have 
wiped  us  out.  However,  we  were  not  molested,  and 
camped  that  night  about  two  miles  from  the  post. 

We  were  so  confident  of  capturing  the  position,  where 
we  knew  there  were  plenty  of  stores,  that  we  had  travelled 
with  but  small  provision  of  rations,  carried  on  two  or 
three  pack-mules  ;  so  my  office  of  issuer  of  provender 
to  forty  hungry  men  was  not  a  very  enviable  one,  for 
my  comrades  had  but  scant  respect  for  any  officer,  and 
none  for  the  orderly  sergeant  ! 

That  night  we  lay  on  our  arms,  and  our  pickets  and 
those  of  the  enemy  were  almost  in  touch.  It  passed 
without  any  attack  on  either  side,  and  at  daybreak  we 
fell  in  and  marched  to  within  a  mile  of  :^the  fort.  There 


166  AN    INDIAN   FORAY 

Paul  left  his  command  in  charge  of  the  next  senior 
sergeant,  an  old  fighting  frontiersman,  whilst  he  and  I 
rode  on  to  the  post,  I  bearing  a  white  flag.  A  sergeant's 
guard  received  us  and  escorted  us  inside  the  fort,  outside 
which  I  saw  strong  picket-defences  had  been  thrown  up, 
and  I  made  sure  we  were  in  for  a  fight.  Lieutenant  Hill, 
the  officer  in  command,  received  us  very  stiffly,  and  said 
he  meant  to  hold  his  post  to  the  last.  He  had  really 
received  orders  to  retire,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  but 
put  a  bold  face  on  it  to  gain  better  terms. 

Paul  assured  him  that  though  he  might  hold  his  post 
against  us  for  a  time,  reinforcements  were  coming  up 
and  evenually  he  must  surrender  ;  that  General  Twig, 
commanding  the  district,  had  already  done  so,  and  that 
therefore  fighting  would  only  mean  useless  waste  of  life. 
Our  crafty  friend  was  deaf  to  all  reason  for  some  time  ;  but 
when  Paul  offered  to  let  the  officers  and  men  march  out 
with  their  horses,  arms,  and  personal  property,  which 
was  what  he  had  been  fighting  for,  he  at  once  agreed,  and 
terms  were  forthwith  settled.  Hill  was  to  march  out 
next  day  and  report  himself,  and  his  command,  at  San 
Antonio. 

So  at  two  o'clock  that  day  he  marched  out  and  we 
took  possession  of  the  post,  the  stores,  ammunition, 
twelve  mules,  eighty  camels,  and  two  Egyptian  drivers, 
for  all  of  which  I  had  to  give  a  receipt.  The  camels  had 
been  purchased  in  Egypt  by  the  U.S.  Government  for 
transport  across  the  prairies  in  the  dry  season,  and 
answered  very  well.  They  were  very  little  trouble  to  us 
as  far  as  the  females  were  concerned  (do  they  call  them 
"  mares  ?  "  — I  don't  know),  but  some  of  the  males  were 
the  mischief,  especially  an  old  gentleman  they  christened 
"  the  major."  He  was  evidently  possessed  by  "  Shaitan," 
and  bit  and  fought  like  a  demon  ;  but  we  chained  him 
by  the  foot  to  a  strong  picket-post,  and  peace  reigned 
in  the  camel-corral. 

For  three  weeks  we  remained  in  these  pleasant  quarters, 


THE    WOMEN    MOURN    THEIR    DEAD      167 

with  plenty  of  good  fishing  in  the  Verde  Creek,  and  deer- 
hunting  and  turkey-shooting  in  the  brush  along  its 
banks.  But  camp  life,  however  pleasant,  soon  grows 
monotonous,  so  it  was  a  relief  to  our  easy-going  but 
rather  wearisome  existence  when  one  day  an  express 
rider  came  in,  in  hot  haste,  to  summon  us  once  more 
to  the  warpath  ;  this  time  against  a  marauding  band  of 
Comanche  Indians.  It  was  night  when  he  arrived,  and 
though  his  message  was  urgent  enough,  nothing  could  be 
done  till  next  morning.  The  Indians  had  been  at  their 
usual  work  of  killing  the  white  men  and  driving  off  their 
horses,  on  four  ranches  in  the  Guadaloupe  district.  Paul 
therefore  ordered  me  to  detail  twenty-five  of  the  best 
mounted  men,  including  myself,  and  to  be  ready  to  start, 
with  six  days'  rations  in  our  malletas,  by  daybreak. 
How  the  "  Boys  "  shouted  when  I  gave  out  the  orders  ! 
All  of  course  wanted  to  go,  but  that  was  impossible. 

With  the  first  gleam  of  light  we  were  on  the  way  to 
the  Guadaloupe  River,  where  the  Comanches  had  begun 
their  fiendish  work  of  massacre  and  plunder.  After 
about  four  hours'  hard  riding  we  reached  a  rough  moun 
tain  farm,  which  had  been  the  first  attacked.  Paul  and 
I  entered  the  lonely  little  cabin,  and  on  the  floor  of  the 
living-room  lay  the  corpses  of  two  men,  one  elderly,  and 
the  other  in  the  prime  of  life.  Both  were  scalped,  and 
pierced  by  many  lance  and  arrow  wounds.  Two  women 
knelt  by  the  side  of  the  poor  remains  in  bitter  grief, 
the  elder  one  mourning  for  her  husband  and  her  son,  the 
younger  for  her  husband. 

The  poor  old  mother  told  us  that  the  night  before  the 
last  one,  her  husband  and  son,  hearing  a  noise  in  the 
horse-corral,  turned  out  to  see  what  it  was,  and  that 
was  the  last  they  had  seen  of  them  alive.  The  terrified 
women  heard  the  noise  of  galloping  horses  and  the  yells 
of  Indians,  and  dare  not  stir.  Why  the  Comanches  did 
not  kill  them  too  is  strange,  for  they  almost  always  made 
a  clean  sweep  of  men,  women ,  and  children  in  these  raids, 


168  AN    INDIAN    FORAY 

Anyway,  however  it  was,  they  were  spared,  and,  when 
daylight  came,  ventured  out.  They  found  the  corral 
down,  the  horses  gone,  and  the  father  and  son  lying  on 
their  faces,  dead  and  scalped.  The  poor  creatures  had, 
with  difficulty,  carried  their  dead  indoors,  and  there,  in 
that  lonely  spot,  far  from  all  human  help,  had  watched 
by  them,  in  anguish  and  in  terror,  for  a  day  and  a  night. 
There  were  of  course  no  coffins,  and  we  could  not  stay  to 
make  any,  for  we  must  be  on  the  trail  of  the  fiends  who 
had  done  this  work  as  soon  as  possible.  But  we  offered 
to  halt  long  enough  to  dig  a  grave,  and  they  consenting, 
with  many  tears,  we  laid  the  poor  fellows  to  rest  under 
the  shade  of  a  live-oak  hard  by  the  little  cabin.  Then 
with  out  expert  "  trailer  "  leading,  we  rode  off  on  the 
broad  trail  of  the  spoilers,  with  wrath  and  vengeance  in 
our  hearts.  It  was  a  pitiful  sight  to  see  those  desolate 
and  forlorn  women  left  alone  by  the  graves  of  their 
dead  ;  but  relief  we  knew  was  following  after  us  from 
Val  Verde,  and  we  had  our  stern  duty  to  do. 

There  were  three  more  ranches  swept  by  the  Indians, 
who  in  these  had  killed  all  the  white  folks,  but  they  were 
some  miles  off  the  main  trail,  and  we  could  not  turn  aside 
to  them  ;  for  we  must  press  on  in  the  hope  of  catching 
our  prey  in  the  open  country.  In  the  hilly,  rocky 
district  at  the  head  of  the  river,  no  trailer,  however 
expert,  could  follow  Indians  ;  there  they  would  be  safe. 

Indian-hunting,  in  my  experience,  is  not  what  one  would 
call  pleasant  sport ;  there  are  so  many  things  you  must 
not  do.  For  instance,  you  musn't  stop  to  kill  any  game, 
however  much  you  may  want  meat,  for  your  shot  may 
alarm  an  Indian  scout ;  you  mustn't  make  a  fire  in 
the  daytime,  lest  the  smoke  should  give  warning  to  the 
watchful  foes  ;  and  then  you  must  press  on  as  fast  as  you 
can  ride  on  the  trail,  to  have  any  chance  of  catching  them. 
For  these  Comanches,  as  I  think  I  have  already  said,  are 
horse-Indians,  and  ride  active,  wiry  ponies  bare-backed. 
All  the  provisions  they  carry  is  a  little  jerked  beef  ;  their 


IN    A    THICK    CEDAR-BRAKE  169 

arms  are  bows  and  arrows  and  lances,  and,  being  wholly 
unencumbered  with  clothing,  they  get  over  the  ground, 
whether  mounted  or  dismounted,  at  a  surprising  rate. 
To  catch  them  without  any  plunder  would  be  most  diffi 
cult  ;  but  when  they  have  made  a  big  haul,  as  in  this  case, 
then  is  your  chance  to  come  up  with  them — only  you 
mustn't  lose  any  time.  I  may  add  that  the  Comanche 
doesn't  want  to  fight,  and  won't  if  he  can  avoid  it,  unless 
the  party  following  him  is  a  very  weak  one  :  he  wants 
to  get  away  with  his  plunder ;  but  if  driven  into  a  corner, 
will  fight  like  a  wild  cat. 

The  trail  led  up  the  Guadaloupe",  a  great  part  of  the 
way  over  a  boulder-strewn,  rocky  trail,  where  it  was  most 
difficult  to  follow,  for  the  "  sign  "  was  almost  impercep 
tible.  Sometimes  through  dense  cedar-brakes,  clothing 
the  spurs  of  the  hills  running  down  to  the  river,  but  always 
through  most  lovely  scenery,  if  one  had  only  had  time 
to  rest  and  enjoy  it.  For  four  days  we  rode  steadily  on, 
never  halting  except  at  night,  or  for  the  briefest  midday 
rest,  and  the  "  Boys  "  all  the  while  keen  and  eager  for 
scalps.  The  fourth  day  the  "  sign  "  grew  plainer,  for 
small  bands  kept  coming  into  the  trail,  and  we  judged 
there  was  a  pretty  strong  bunch  of  Indians  somewhere, 
not  very  far,  ahead  of  us. 

That  night  we  camped  on  a  bit  of  open,  rolling  prairie 
close  to  the  river,  and  there  was  great  excitement,  for  we 
believed  we  were  close  up  to  the  band.  Moreover  we  had 
now  reached  the  very  edge  of  the  brush-covered,  rocky 
hills,  the  fastnesses  of  the  Indians,  and  if  we  couldn't 
catch  them  before  they  got  into  them,  our  labours  and 
toils  were  in  vain. 

Our  trailer  and  two  scouts  went  cautiously  ahead,  when 
night  fell,  to  reconnoitre.  They  seemed  gone  for  hours  ;  in 
reality  it  was  less  than  one.  Then  they  came  cautiously 
back  and  reported  they  had  located  the  Indians  in  a  thick 
cedar-brake  on  the  top  of  a  steep  ridge,  and  that,  from  the 
smoke  of  their  fires,  there  must  be  a  strong  party  of  them. 


170  AN    INDIAN    FORAY 

Paul  ordered  the  "  Boys  "  to  fall  in  at  2  a.m.,  so  that 
we  might  attack  an  hour  or  so  before  daybreak. 

It  was  pitch  dark  as  silently,  and  in  single  file,  we 
followed  our  guide  through  the  cedar-brakes  over  a  very 
rough  and  hilly  country.  For  nearly  an  hour  we  crept 
on,  and  then  the  whispered  word  was  given,  and  passed 
down  the  line,  to  halt.  We  were  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  the  camp.  Now  twenty  of  the  men  were  dis 
mounted  ;  the  horses  were  linked  and  two  men  left  in 
charge,  and  whilst  Paul  led  the  frontal  attack  with 
eighteen  of  the  "  Boys,"  I  was  sent  with  four  mounted 
men  to  the  right  flank  to  cut  off  any  of  the  Indians 
who  tried  to  bolt  across  the  ravine  on  that  side. 

The  young  moon  just  then  broke  through  the  heavy 
clouds,  and  by  the  faint  light  we  could  see  Paul  and  his 
men  creeping  up  the  ridge  in  line.  Then  we  pushed  a 
little  farther  round  the  flank  of  the  hill,  and  waited  events 
rifle  in  hand,  and  with  straining  eyes  peering  through 
the  dimness  of  the  night. 

Now,  as  we  waited,  a  single  shot  was  fired,  then  another  ; 
then  a  volley  rang  out  on  the  top  of  the  ridge  and,  like 
greased  lightning,  the  Indians,  on  foot,  went  tearing 
through  the  brush  for  their  lives.  Some  half-dozen  or  so 
of  them  bolted  across  our  ravine  a  bit  ahead  of  us,  and 
two  of  them  we  grassed  ;  but  one  got  up  and  ran  on.  They 
seemed  to  go  at  a  tremendous  pace,  and  in  that  dim  light 
we  were  lucky  to  hit  any  of  them. 

Meanwhile  Paul,  through  the  hot-headedness  of  one 
of  the  "  Boys,"  just  missed  surprising  the  camp.  He 
and  his  men  had  crept  nearly  to  the  top  of  the  steep 
ridge,  when  he  who  did  the  mischief  thought  he  saw 
an  Indian  standing  on  the  edge,  peering  down,  and  let 
drive  with  his  Sharp's  carbine,  and  hit  a  gnarled  cedar 
stump  !  The  next  file  followed  suit,  and  in  a  moment 
the  Indians  were  on  foot,  and  bolting  in  all  directions. 
By  this  time  our  "  Boys  "  had  reached  the  plateau,  and 
poured  in  a  volley  after  the  runaways  ;  but  they  were. 


THE  COMANCHES'  PLUNDER      171 

scattered,  the  brush  was  thick,  and  aiming  in  the  darkness 
was  impossible,  so  all  they  actually  bagged  was  three 
Indians.  No  doubt  others  were  wounded  but  were 
carried  off  by  their  comrades,  who  make  it  a  point  of 
honour  not  to  lose  scalps  if  they  can  help  it.  It  was 
no  doubt  the  suddenness  of  our  night-attack  that  so 
scared  the  Comanches  and  made  them  bolt  like  that,  for 
as  a  rule  they  are  no  cowards.  In  the  darkness,  and  in 
such  a  country,  it  was  of  course  hopeless  to  follow  them 
farther. 

In  their  camp  we  found  all  their  lances,  bows  and 
quivers,  and  shields,  five  scalps,  various  articles  such 
as  blankets,  saddlery  and  rifles,  the  plunder  of  the  ranches, 
and  fifteen  ponies. 

Of  the  latter  they  had  a  great  many  more  with  them, 
from  the  size  of  the  trail,  but  the  rest  had  bolted,  or  been 
stampeded  by  the  Indians  at  the  first  alarm.  By  day 
break  we  had  made  packs  of  the  plunder,  and,  driving 
the  ponies  before  us,  started  on  the  back  trail  to  Val 
Verde. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  VIGILANCE   COMMITTEE'S   WORK 

OUR  horses  were  a  bit  done  up  by  the  long  stern  chase 
after  the  Comanches,  and  it  took  us  about  three  days 
to  return  to  the  fort.  The  next  day  an  auction  of  the 
Indian  spoils  was  held,  and  I  bought  four  of  the  ponies 
at  $3  ahead  ;  cheap  enough,  for  they  were  wiry,  useful 
little  beasts. 

For  ten  days  we  remained  quietly  at  the  fort,  and  then 
it  was  "  boot  and  saddle  "  again  for  me. 

Paul  had  received  orders  to  send  out  a  scouting  party 
to  watch  the  movements  of  a  body  of  U.S.  troops,  sup 
posed  to  be  some  hundreds  strong,  marching  from  the 
Mexican  frontier,  possibly  to  attack  San  Antonio.  They 
had  been  collected  from  the  border  forts  and  posts  ; 
were  veteran  troops,  had  two  fieldpieces  of  artillery 
with  them,  and  it  was  necessary  to  keep  a  watchful  eye 
on  them,  for  though  they  might  be  only  retiring  from 
untenable  positions,  they  might  mean  mischief.  Twenty 
of  our  best  men  then  were  picked  out  for  this  duty,  and 
I  was  sent  in  command  of  them. 

So  next  morning,  with  four  pack-mules  to  carry  our 
supplies,  we  started  with  orders  to  strike  the  El  Paso 
road  west  of  Eagle  Pass,  a  hundred  miles  distant,  then 
get  into  touch  with  the  U.S.  troops  and  follow  them, 
unobserved  if  possible,  till  further  orders.  Our  road 
lay  across  the  open  prairie,  or  rather  our  route  did,  for 
there  was  no  road  ;  but  my  guide  knew  the  country  so 
well,  and  was  so  good  a  frontiersman,  that  he  took  us  to 
our  point  almost  in  a  bee  line. 

172 


THE    RETIRING    COLUMN  173 

Arrived  at  the  road,  I  turned  up  it  to  the  west,  sending 
two  scouts  to  keep  about  a  mile  ahead  of  the  rest  of  the 
party.  For  two  days  we  rode  leisurely  along,  and  then 
the  scouts  reported  they  had  sighted  the  troops  we  were 
in  search  of.  At  once  I  moved  my  party  off  the  road 
about  half  a  mile  on  to  the  prairie,  and  took  cover  in  a 
"  mott,"  or  clump,  of  live-oak  to  watch  the  proceedings. 
It  was  quite  a  pretty  sight  too,  for  there  were,  as  I  esti 
mated,  700  infantry,  2  guns,  8  wagons  drawn  by  six 
mules  each,  and  a  number  of  officers'  servants  and  led 
horses,  etc.,  bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  column. 

The  column  marched  about  fifteen  miles  a  day,  and  we 
followed  them  on  their  flank,  unseen  I  believe,  for  they 
took  no  notice  of  us,  for  fully  250  miles.  In  reply  to  a 
message  sent  into  headquarters  by  an  express  rider, 
I  received  orders  to  continue  the  scout,  but  to  advise 
Colonel  Van  Doon,  in  command  at  San  Antonio,  the  day 
before  the  column  would  reach  the  San  Lucas  springs, 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  town.  This  I  did,  and  then 
rode  ahead  of  the  U.S.  column  and  camped  near  the 
springs  to  await  orders. 

That  night  I  was  ordered  to  move  to  the  Medio  close 
to  my  ranch,  to  meet  Colonel  Van  Doon  early  next 
morning.  Before  doing  so  I  had  another  good  look  at 
the  troops  I  had  been  shadowing  so  long,  and  was  much 
impressed  by  their  appearance,  for  they  were  as  fine 
and  soldierly  looking  a  body  of  men  as  ever  I  saw.  If 
they  meant  fighting,  I  was  sure  they  could  whip  any 
force  Van  Doon  could  bring  against  them,  though  they 
had  but  a  poor  chance  of  getting  out  of  the  State,  which 
by  that  time  was  up  in  arms. 

I  arrived  at  the  ranch,  with  my  command,  in  good 
time,  and  had  only  just  served  out  a  glass  of  whiskey 
apiece  to  the  "  Boys,"  when  a  great  cloud  of  dust  on  the 
San  Antonio  road  heralded  the  approach  of  the  Colonel 
and  his  motley  crew.  He  had  about  two  thousand 
infantry  volunteers  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  armed  with 


174    THE    VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S    WORK 

all  kinds  of  weapons,  and  about  five  hundred  mounted 
men  of  more  presentable  appearance.  An  "  aide " 
now  galloped  up,  and  ordered  me  to  move  on  up  the  El 
Paso  road  as  an  advance  guard,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  ahead  of  the  main  body. 

When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  U.S.  troops  I  was  halted, 
and  ordered  to  report  myself  to  the  Colonel.  He,  I 
found,  had  formed  up  his  infantry  in  three  ranks  across 
the  road,  with  his  mounted  men  on  each  flank,  and  it 
looked  as  though  he  expected  a  fight.  I  reported  all  I 
had  been  able  to  learn  about  the  enemy,  his  ammunition, 
supplies,  etc.,  and  that  he  was  drawn  up  in  line  on  the 
crest  of  a  slight  rise,  with  his  artillery  in  position  in  the 
centre.  I  said  it  looked  as  though  he  meant  to  fight ; 
and  if  he  did — well,  he  would  be  a  tough  nut  to  crack. 
The  old  Colonel,  who  no  doubt  was  more  in  the  secrets 
of  the  enemy  than  I  was,  only  smiled,  thanked  me  for 
the  way  I  had  carried  out  my  orders,  and  dismissed  me. 

We  stood  in  this  formation  for  quite  an  hour — a  very 
anxious  time,  I  fancy,  for  the  San  Antonio  volunteers,  who 
certainly  were  not  spoiling  for  a  fight,  for  at  least  a 
hundred  and  fifty  of  them  had  fallen  out  on  the  march. 
Most  of  them  were  at  that  moment  being  doctored  by  my 
friend  Thompson  at  his  store  with  whiskey  and  such 
like  medicines,  to  their  comfort  and  his  no  small  profit. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  a  Federal  officer,  with  a  sergeant's 
guard,  bearing  a  white  flag,  appeared,  and  in  five  minutes 
the  news  ran  down  the  ranks  that  the  U.S.  troops  had 
surrendered. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  U.S.  troops  in  Texas  made 
but  a  poor  show  of  resistance  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  ; 
but  a  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  they  had  no  chance 
of  getting  away  to  join  their  friends  of  the  North.  The 
distance  was  too  great,  and  they  were  too  completely 
hemmed  in  by  Southern  States,  to  have  any  alternative 
but  surrender. 

The  U.S.  troops  then  were  to  camp  that  night  on  the 


A    WATER  WIZARD    AGAIN  175 

Leon  Creek,  hard  by,  and  next  day  march  into  San 
Antonio  and  be  parolled.  Our  volunteers  were  marched 
back  to  headquarters,  but  passed  our  ranch  on  the  Medio, 
where  they  cleared  Thompson  out  of  every  eatable  and 
drinkable  he  had,  but  filled  his  pockets  with  coin.  Besides 
this,  my  astute  friend  did  a  good  stroke  of  business  with 
some  of  the  Federal  officers  in  their  camp  on  the  Leon. 
He  bethought  him  that  probably  they  would  have  some 
property  they  would  rather  sell  than  hand  over  to  the 
authorities  in  San  Antonio  ;  and  he  was  right,  for  he 
found  them  quite  ready  for  a  deal,  if  it  could  be  done 
quietly.  The  bargains  were  soon  struck,  and  by  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  Thompson  was  back  at  the  ranch 
with  three  good  ponies,  twenty  U.S.  blankets,  and  six 
Colt  six-shooters,  for  all  of  which  he  paid  a  mere  song. 
I'm  afraid  it  was  a  very  questionable  proceeding,  on 
both  sides,  but  the  Colonel  was  highly  elated  with  the 
success  of  his  brilliant  idea  ;  the  six-shooters  especially 
being  almost  invaluable. 

Meanwhile  our  three  months'  service  was  up,  and  we 
were  ordered  back  to  Val  Verde  to  be  paid  off  and 
mustered  out.  There,  in  about  a  week's  time,  our 
company  was  relieved  by  one  of  the  lately  raised  Texan 
Frontier  Troops,  and  we  received  our  "  certificate  of  ser 
vice."  Then  each  man  went  his  way  to  his  own  place. 
I  afterwards  cashed  my  certificate  in  San  Antonio  for  $60. 

At  the  ranch  I  found  Thompson  had  got  everything 
quite  shipshape,  even  to  ceilings  of  "  domestic,"  i.e. 
calico,  neatly  whitewashed,  in  the  rooms.  His  store 
looked  quite  businesslike,  and  was  well  stocked  with 
goods.  Two  good  cattle-corrals  were  built,  and  a  well 
dug,  about  ten  yards  from  the  door,  in  which,  at  thirty 
feet  depth,  there  was  plenty  of  good  water.  The  spot 
had  been  chosen  by  a  "  water  wizard,"  with  his  hazel 
twig.  Though  there  can't  be  anything  in  the  twig,  it's 
curious  how  often  these  folks  strike  water  first  time ; 
witness  my  "  wizard  "  at  Monticello,  in  Kansas. 


176    THE    VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE'S    WORK 

Thompson  had  also  added  to  our  establishment  a 
Mexican  vaquero  named  Caesario,  and  his  "  muger," 
or  wife  ;  the  latter  to  act  as  cook,  for  though  my  friend 
was  an  expert  in  that  line  himself,  he  preferred  some 
one  else  to  do  the  work  for  him.  Everything  was  in 
good  order  and  the  place  already  looked  quite  flourishing  ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  his  preoccupations  the  Colonel  had 
quite  forgotten  to  look  after  the  cattle,  and  every  one  of 
them  had  made  tracks  for  their  old  range  on  the  Medina, 
whence  they  had  come.  So  the  day  after  my  return 
I  started  with  two  Mexicans  and  six  horses  on  a 
"cow-hunt." 

The  first  night  we  camped  in  the  forks  of  the  San 
Antonio  and  Medina  Rivers,  hard  by  the  ancient  Catholic 
Mission  of  San  Jose.  Long  as  it  had  been  deserted, 
its  walls,  of  great  thickness,  stood  firm  and  strong,  and 
round  it  were  numerous  outbuildings,  and  houses  for  the 
peons  the  good  Fathers  had  employed  to  tend  their 
cattle  and  cultivate  their  irrigated  lands. 

It  was  when  the  Mexicans  threw  off  the  hated  yoke 
of  Spain,  early  last  century,  that  they  despoiled  the 
Church  of  most  of  her  lands.  No  doubt  she  had  got  hold 
of  vast  tracks  of  country  in  Texas,  as  elsewhere  ;  but 
these  "  Missiones,"  scattered  over  the  wildest  districts, 
were  centres  of  civilisation  and  of  industry  it  was  a 
thousand  pities  to  destroy. 

At  the  time  I  write  of  there  was  scarcely  a  settlement 
in  all  that  Medina  district ;  only  here  and  there  a  small 
Mexican  ranch.  These  Mexicans  were  good  vaqueros, 
but  much  given  to  cattle-stealing,  and  when  caught 
flagrante  delicto,  which  wasn't  often,  or  even  strongly 
suspected,  they  were  made  to  "  look  up  "  the  nearest 
tree  ;  which  being  interpreted  means  hanged,  and  that 
of  course  without  trial. 

Next  morning,  starting  my  boy  Antonio  to  hunt  up 
the  horses,  and  Caesario  to  prepare  our  simple  breakfast, 
I  strolled  down  to  the  river,  as  the  sun  rose  in  all  his 


MIXED    BATHING  177 

splendour,  to  enjoy  a  bathe  in  the  exquisite  coolness  and 
freshness  of  the  dawning.  On  the  opposite  bank  was  a 
Mexican  "  pueblo,"  and  I  found  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof  of  like  mind  with  myself.  Men,  women,  young 
girls,  and  children — all  were  disporting  themselves  in  the 
beautiful  pool,  diving,  swimming,  splashing  each  other 
in  the  bright  sunshine  ;  and  not  a  soul  of  them  wore  more 
than  nature's  garb  !  As  they  were  in  no  way  discon 
certed  by  my  arrival,  but  greeted  me  with  cheerful 
"  Buenos  dias,  Senor,"  I  was  soon  amongst  them, 
thoroughly  enjoying  the  fun.  I  never  saw  a  merrier 
bathing  party,  or  a  more  innocent  one. 

The  country  I  was  hunting  in  was  a  most  difficult  one, 
and  after  four  days'  hard  work  I  only  managed  to  collect 
about  fifty  head  of  my  cattle.  These  I  drove  back  to 
the  ranch,  and  had  them  herded  by  day  and  penned 
at  night.  Two  more  drives  I  made,  and  got  most  of  the 
stragglers  back,  but  it  was  hard  work !  Meanwhile 
Thompson  had  bought  150  more  from  a  German  who 
was  clearing  out  for  Mexico,  and  these  were  added  to 
the  herd,  which  now  began  to  be  a  respectable  size. 

One  night,  whilst  I  fortunately  was  at  home  after  one 
of  these  drives,  a  young  fellow  I  had  met  before,  named 
Dan  Ragsdale,  put  up  with  us  on  his  way  to  San  Antonio. 
He  owned  a  ranch  on  the  River  Frio,  about  sixty  miles 
from  San  Antonio,  in  a  splendid  range  for  cattle,  but 
right  in  the  Indian  country ;  and  what  was  best  from  a 
ranching  point  of  view,  had  no  neighbours  within  miles 
of  him. 

He  had  2,000  head  of  cattle,  four  darkies,  and  any 
number  of  horses.  The  war-fever  was  strong  on  him, 
and  he  was  on  his  way  to  San  Antonio  to  sell  out  "  lock, 
stock  and  barrel,"  and  take  a  commission  as  captain 
in  the  Confederate  service,  which  had  been  promised 
him. 

Though  I  had  never  seen  his  ranch,  I  had  often  heard 
of  it  as  the  best  in  all  the  country  round,  and  when  he 

12 


178    THE    VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S    WORK 

talked  so  eagerly  of  selling  I  pricked  up  my  ears.  Over 
our  pipes  after  supper  he  offered  to  sell  to  us  on  most 
favourable  terms  :  $1,000  down,  $5  a  head  for  the 
cattle  we  could  brand,  not  counting  calves,  and  three 
years'  time  to  pay  for  them  by  instalments.  It  was 
most  tempting,  and  I  confess  I  was  as  eager  to  buy  as 
he  was  to  sell ;  but  we  had  this  Medio  ranch  and  store 
on  our  hands,  and  we  must  get  rid  of  the  one  before 
we  could  go  in  for  the  other. 

Finally  it  was  arranged  that  Ragsdale's  offer  should 
remain  open  for  us  for  a  fortnight,  by  which  time  he 
would  return  for  our  decision. 

I  set  out  then  on  my  third  "  cow-hunt,"  with  no 
expectation  of  being  able  to  take  up  the  Frio  ranch. 
But  how  often  it  is  that  the  unexpected  happens !  I 
had  been  out  nearly  a  week,  and  was  returning  home 
with  a  good  bunch  of  cattle,  when  on  the  Medio  Creek 
I  stumbled  on  an  ambulance  and  a  wagon ;  the  owner 
whereof,  a  man  named  Randall,  and  his  wife,  had  just 
pitched  camp  there.  They  had  started  from  Arkansas 
with  all  their  belongings,  intending  to  trek  right  across 
the  mountains  to  California ;  a  sufficiently  difficult 
undertaking  at  any  time,  but  which  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  country  made  almost  impossible. 

It  sounds  almost  like  a  coincidence  in  a  novel,  but  he 
asked  me  if  I  knew  of  any  place  that  would  suit  him,  as 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  settle  in  Texas.  "  Come 
along,"  I  said,  "  right  away,  for  I've  got  the  very  place 
for  you  within  two  or  three  miles  of  where  we  are." 

As  soon  as  he  and  his  wife  saw  our  decent  comfortable 
house,  the  store,  and  all  the  surroundings,  they  were  very 
pleased,  and  in  a  short  time  we  agreed  on  the  terms 
of  purchase.  He  was  to  pay  $1,500  for  the  ranch, 
store,  etc.,  and  $6  a  head  for  all  cattle  delivered.  He 
paid  $1,000  deposit,  and  with  his  wife  and  family  and 
four  darkies  took  possession  of  the  house,  all  but  one 
room,  whilst  I  set  off  again  to  round  up  the  remaining 


"DADDY'     GREEN'S    DEATH  179 

cattle.  This  I  did,  after  another  week's  hard  riding,  and 
then  Ragsdalo  turned  up  again.  We  paid  him  his  $1,000 
down,  and  I  think  he  was  quite  as  pleased  to  sell  as  we 
to  buy  ;  for  he  had  got  his  commission,  and  was  keen  to 
be  off  to  the  wars. 

I  often  saw  him  when  he  was  encamped  with  his 
regiment,  the  1st  Texan  Cavalry,  at  Three-Mile  Creek 
near  San  Antonio,  for  the  Colonel,  commonly  called 
"  Daddy  "  Green,  and  many  of  the  officers  were  well 
known  to  me.  "  Daddy  "  Green  was  a  very  fine  specimen 
of  the  Southern  planter,  and  in  former  days  had  seen 
much  service  against  the  Mexicans  and  Indians.  Never 
was  commander,  I  believe,  more  beloved  than  he  by 
"  his  boys."  He  led  them  most  gallantly  in  many  a 
tough  fight,  and  with  him  it  was  never  "  go,"  but 
"  come." 

Near  the  close  of  the  war  he,  with  his  brigade  of  Texan 
Cavalry,  "  whipped  "  "  Commissary  "  Banks,  otherwise 
General  Banks  of  the  Federal  Army,  in  a  most  gallant 
fight  on  the  Red  River.  The  dear  old  boy  led  his  brigade 
against  the  Federal  infantry  strongly  posted,  with  guns 
on  either  flank.  It  was  against  all  the  rules  of  war  I 
suppose,  but  nothing  could  stop  his  boys,  with  "  Daddy  " 
in  front  of  them,  and  they  took  the  position  and  the 
guns,  though  with  heavy  loss ;  the  heaviest  and  most 
grievous  of  all  being  that  of  the  dear  old  General,  who 
was  literally  cut  in  two  by  a  round  shot  in  the  moment 
of  victory.  His  boys  just  rode  over  those  Federals, 
and  it  was  said  that  there  was  no  such  deed  done  in  all 
the  war. 

As  to  poor  Ragsdale,  he  served  for  some  two  years, 
attained  the  rank  of  major,  and  then  was  killed  in 
Louisiana,  pluckily  leading  his  squadron  in  a  gallant 
charge. 

But  all  this  is  a  digression,  though  I  must  repeat  the 
offence  to  give  an  instance  of  the  villainous  doings  of 
the  Vigilance  Committee. 


180    THE    VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S    WORK 

The  evening  I  returned  from  my  first  "  cow-hunt,"  I 
was  sitting  on  the  "  gallery,"  resting  and  enjoying  the 
lovely  evening,  when  a  two-horse  ambulance,  with  five 
men  in  it,  drove  up.  A  man  named  John  Atkins  I  had 
met  before,  and  two  others  got  down,  shook  hands,  and 
asked  for  drinks  of  whiskey.  As  the  other  two  remained 
in  the  ambulance,  I  saw  there  was  something  up,  and 
asked  Atkins  what  it  was.  He  said  they  had  had  a  rare 

hunt  after  a  d d  horse-thief  ;  had  found  him  at 

last  at  Fort  Clark,  where  he  had  enlisted  for  a  year's 
service,  putting  his  (Atkins's)  horse  in  as  his  mount. 
They  had  recovered  the  horse,  which  was  tied  behind 
the  ambulance,  and  they  were  taking  the  thief  into 
San  Antonio. 

But  his  manner  as  he  said  this  aroused  my  suspicions  ; 
besides,  I  knew  him  as  a  prominent  member  of  the  dreaded 
Vigilance  Committee,  so  I  said,  "  I  hope  you  are  not  going 
to  hang  the  poor  wretch  before  you  get  there."  "  You've 
hit  it,  my  boy,  first  shot,"  he  answered  with  a  laugh ; 
"  vou  get  your  horse,  and  come  along  to  see  the  finish. 
You  bet  we  sha'n't  take  him  much  farther  now." 

Now  one  of  the  two  still  in  the  ambulance  left  it, 
and  came  to  the  house ;  but  the  prisoner  sat  quietly 
on,  and  apparently  unconcerned.  No  suspicion  of  the 
near-impending  fate  that  awaited  him  seemed  to  have 
dawned  upon  him.  The  human  ghouls  who  had  brought 
him  along  more  than  250  miles  had  played  cards  with 
him  at  each  camp,  and  now  were  going  to  murder  him 
in  cold  blood  !  It  made  my  blood  boil,  and  Mr.  John 
Atkins  never  guessed  how  near  he  was  to  getting  a 
bullet  through  his  heart.  But  if  I  could  have  killed 
all  four  of  these  bloodthirsty  wretches,  and  rescued  their 
prisoner,  I  should  have  had  to  flee  the  country,  or  their 
fellow-murderers  of  tho  committee  would  surely  have 
hanged  me. 

I  mastered  my  wrath  then,  as  best  I  could,  and  used 
every  argument  I  could  think  of  to  induce  Atkins  at 


THE    HANGING    OF    YOUNG  181 

least  to  let  his  captive  have  his  chance  of  trial  in  the 
town.  In  vain ;  neither  argument  nor  entreaty  could 
move  him.  I  had  said  as  much  as  I  dared,  and  more 
than  was  good  for  my  own  security,  and  could  do  no 
more.  So,  sad  and  sick  at  heart,  I  walked  over  to  the 
ambulance  to  speak  to  the  poor  young  fellow  ;  he  was 
not  more  than  twenty-five,  and  a  well-dressed,  good- 
looking  fellow.  Directly  I  spoke,  he  said,  *'  Why,  I  met 
you  in  Kansas,  when  you  were  a  lieutenant  in  Miller's 
company,  and  I  was  in  Dunn's."  I  couldn't  recollect 
him,  even  when  he  told  me  his  name  was  Jack  Young. 
He  declared  he  was  innocent  of  the  charge,  for  he  had 
bought  the  horse  from  a  Mexican,  on  the  Medina,  and 
was  confident  of  being  able  to  produce  him  at  his  trial. 
His  trial,  poor  fellow  !  How  little  he  knew  !  I  couldn't 
tell  him  of  the  terrible  fate  awaiting  him,  and  it  was 
best  not.  It  could  only  prolong  his  agony. 

But  I  would  try  once  more  what  persuasion  would 
effect  with  his  captors.  I  might  have  spared  my  breath, 
for  they  were  as  hard  as  the  nether  millstone.  The 
sun  was  setting,  and  the  murderers  were  anxious  to  start, 
that  they  might  finish  their  evil  deed  before  darkness 
overtook  them. 

The  victim  asked  for  whiskey,  which  I  had  forgotten  to 
offer  him,  so  I  brought  him  a  tumbler.  He  shook  me 
by  the  hand,  hoping  to  meet  me  again  soon  ;  and  I  knew 
I  should  never  see  him  alive  any  more.  So  they  drove 
off,  the  prisoner  cheery  and  unconcerned,  his  escort 
laughing  and  chatting  with  him,  as  though  they  were  all 
the  best  of  friends.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  the  brutes 
would  hang  him  !  I  watched  them,  in  the  crimson 
glow  of  the  setting  sun,  until  they  disappeared  round 
a  "  mott "  on  the  prairie,  and  then,  with  a  feeling  of 
utter  helplessness,  turned  back  to  the  house. 

That  night  I  scarcely  slept,  and  at  daybreak  was  on 
horseback,  following  the  trail  of  the  ambulance  ;  drawn, 
as  it  were,  by  some  irresistible  attraction  ;  feeling  sure 


182    THE    VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE'S    WORK 

at  one  moment  of  what  I  should  find,  and  the  next 
hoping  the  murderers  might  have  relented.  Thus  hoping, 
fearing,  I  rode  on  for  about  three  miles,  and  then  saw 
what  I  really  expected :  Jack  Young  hanging  from 
a  China-tree  hard  by  the  trail ! 

In  hot  haste  I  rode  on  into  San  Antonio  and  reported 
to  the  City  Marshal  what  I  had  seen.  The  deed  was 
recognised  as  the  handiwork  of  the  all-powerful  Vigilance 
Committee,  and  no  one  dared  to  interfere  with  its  dread 
decrees.  Only  some  Mexicans  were  sent  out  by  the 
city  authorities  to  cut  down  the  victim  and  bury  him 
on  the  spot  where  he  died.  And  so  an  end,  as  far  as 
this  world's  justice  is  concerned.  I  have,  alas  !  seen 
many  die  by  Lynch  Law,  but  never  so  cold-blooded  a 
deed  as  this  one. 


CHAPTER    IV 
A  RANCHER'S   PARADISE 

HAVING  agreed  terms  with  Ragsdale  for  his  ranch,  and 
paid  our  deposit,  all  we  had  to  do  now  was  to  ride  into 
San  Antonio,  see  his  lawyers,  and  put  matters  in  proper 
legal  train.  This  we  did  in  a  very  few  hours,  and  became 
duly  "  seized  "  (I  think  that  is  the  legal  phrase)  of  the 
coveted  Frio  ranch. 

I  must  say  they  do  these  things  better  in  the  States 
than  we  do  here.  Why,  it  is  easier,  and  less  costly,  to 
transfer  the  ownership  of  a  great  estate,  that  may  be 
worth  millions,  over  there,  than  one  tumbledown  old 
cottage  here  ! 

That  fixed  up,  I  engaged  an  old  frontier  Mexican,  Juan 
Garcia  by  name,  to  go  out  to  the  Frio  with  me,  and  ride 
round  the  home  range.  Juan  was  well  known  to  me 
as  a  first-rate  vaquero,  and  though  he  had  never  been 
actually  on  the  new  ranch,  knew  its  whereabouts,  and 
the  lay  of  the  surrounding  country.  I  have  no  idea 
how  old  he  was,  nor  do  I  think  had  he  himself ;  any 
way,  he  looked  like  a  dried-up  mummy,  a  little  bleached 
by  long  exposure  to  the  sun.  On  foot  he  looked  old, 
and  decrepit  almost ;  but  put  him  on  a  horse,  however 
wild  and  unbroken,  and  he  seemed  transformed.  He 
could  ride  all  day,  and  every  day,  and  after  the  longest 
"  cow-hunt "  seemed  as  fresh  as  paint.  He  was  a  good 
shot  with  rifle  or  six-shooter,  and  furthermore — a  great 
consideration  in  view  of  where  we  were  going — wasn't 
afraid  of  Indians. 

His  costume,  like  that  of  all  his  kind,  consisted  of 

183 


184  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

buckskin  pants,  nearly  as  ancient  as  himself,  gaiters 
much  adorned,  Mexican  fashion,  with  tassels  and  laces, 
and  long  mocassins,  to  which  were  affixed  a  huge  pair 
of  silver  spurs,  the  pride  of  his  heart.  The  upper  part 
of  him  was  clad  in  a  short  jacket,  or  jumper,  of  canvas, 
which  displayed  much  brown  skin  between  itself  and  the 
buckskins,  and  on  his  head  he  had  a  huge  sombrero, 
under  which  the  old  fellow  looked  like  a  vast  mushroom 
on  a  short  stalk. 

Juan  and  I  then  started  on  our  somewhat  perilous 
journey,  armed  with  rifles  and  six-shooters,  and  carry 
ing  for  provisions,  in  our  malletas,  coffee,  dried  beef, 
and  hard  bread.  Our  shortest  route  lay  across  the 
prairie  to  a  ford  on  the  Medina  River,  but  we  neither  of 
us  knew  the  exact  position  of  the  ranch,  so  had  to  pass 
through  Castroville  and  take  a  very  dim  trail  to  the 
San  Francisco  Creek,  about  twelve  miles. 

The  crossing  of  the  San  Francisco  had  an  evil  repute  ; 
for  about  a  month  before  the  Lepan  Indians  had  sur 
prised  a  small  party  of  cow-hunters  there,  killing  one 
and  wounding  another,  the  latter  a  man  named  Lemmons, 
who  afterwards  did  a  lot  of  cattle-driving  for  me.  How 
ever,  we  got  over  the  creek  all  right,  and  there  before 
us  lay  the  open,  boundless  prairie  with  never  a  sign  of  a 
trail  on  it. 

Juan  said  our  direction,  he  thought,  was  about  west, 
so  for  that  point  we  steered  by  the  sun,  riding  over  fine 
rolling  prairie,  dotted  here  and  there  with  great  live-oaks, 
and  in  the  bottoms,  dense  white  chaparral.  Not  a  living 
being,  nor  any  sign  of  settlement,  did  we  see  all  that 
day  ;  only  now  and  then  a  few  stray  cattle,  and  plenty 
of  deer  and  peccary,  which  we  dared  not  shoot  for  fear 
of  betraying  our  presence  to  the  watchful  Indians. 

That  night  we  camped  on  the  Seco  Creek,  by  Juan's 
reckoning,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Frio,  and  after 
dark  made  a  small  fire  to  boil  our  coffee  and  heat  up  our 
dried  beef.  This  done,  we  put  it  out,  lest  the  smoke 


ON    THE    OPEN    PRAIRIE  185 

should  be  seen,  lariat  ted  our  horses  to  prevent  their 
straying,  smoked  one  pipe,  and  then  laid  down  on  our 
blankets,  with  our  saddles  for  pillows  and  our  arms  by 
our  sides,  frontier  fashion.  The  moon  was  high,  and 
the  night  full  of  light.  Very  beautiful  to  look  on  in  its 
vastness  and  its  stillness,  and  I  lay  for  a  short  time  con 
templating  the  wondrous  scene,  and  thinking  of  the  past, 
and  of  the  uncertain  future  before  me  ;  also  I  confess 
wondering  if  there  were  any  Indians  about,  and  how  a 
scalping-knife  would  feel.  But  not  for  long  ;  for  soon 
the  soft  cries  of  the  whip-poor-wills,  the  distant  howls  of 
the  coyotes,  and  the  grumbling  of  the  bull-frogs  in  the 
creek  sent  me  into  a  dreamless  sleep,  till  Juan  roused 
me  as  the  first  glimmer  of  light  showed  on  the  eastern 
horizon.  That  worthy  declared  he  had  slept  with  one 
eye  open,  but  I  rather  doubt  it.  Indians  or  no  Indians 
we  were  bound  to  make  a  fire,  for  a  pint  of  good  coffee 
is  almost  worth  risking  your  life  for.  We  drank  this, 
perhaps  enjoying  it  the  more  for  the  risk  we  ran,  ate  a 
bit  of  dried  beef,  slightly  broiled  on  the  embers,  and  set 
off  due  west  again,  still  seeing  no  trail,  though  we  had 
expected  to  strike  one  of  Ragsdale's  before  this.  I  found 
afterwards  that  the  reason  was  that  he  never  used  the 
same  trail  twice,  either  in  riding  or  sending  a  wagon, 
into  San  Antonio.  A  wise  precaution  in  an  Indian 
country  like  that. 

However,  we  soon  began  to  strike  big  cat  tie- trails, 
all  leading  in  one  direction,  which  we  were  sure  must  be 
the  Frio,  and  followed  them  at  a  smart  "  lope."  Pre 
sently  all  doubts  were  at  an  end  when  we  struck  a  number 
of  cattle,  all  with  the  I.X.L.  brand,  which  I  had  bought 
from  Ragsdale.  I  was  delighted  with  what  I  had  seen 
so  far,  and  recognised  that  I  had  struck  the  finest  cattle- 
range  I  had  ever  laid  eyes  on.  Miles  and  miles  of  clean 
mesquite  grass  extended  on  all  sides,  and  all  the  cattle 
fattening  on  this  pasture  were  in  splendid  condition. 

The  cattle  and  deer  trails  soon  led  us  to  dense  chap- 


186  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

arral  of  "  cat-claw  "  mesquite  and  prickly  pear,  with 
wide  cattle-roads  through  it.  Here  and  there  this  would 
open  out  into  hollows,  or  canadas,  perhaps  a  hundred 
yards  wide,  with  lagoons  in  them,  round  which  grew 
beautiful  grass,  clear  of  brush,  but  dotted  about  with 
live-oaks,  palmetto,  and  mesquite- trees.  This  chaparral, 
I  found  afterwards,  extended  back  from  the  river  about 
four  miles,  and  along  its  length  for  about  thirty  miles  : 
a  very  home  and  paradise  for  game  of  all  sorts. 

As  we  rode  along  that  morning,  troops  of  turkeys  would 
rush  across  the  trail ;  deer  would  jump  up,  almost  under 
our  horses'  feet,  and  bunches  of  "  javalines,"  or  peccary, 
bolt  from  their  wallows  on  the  margins  of  the  water-holes 
into  the  brush  with  angry  grunts  and  fierce  snapping  of 
their  tusks.  Signs,  too,  were  not  wanting  of  mustangs 
coming  down  to  drink,  and  as  old  Juan,  whose  regular 
calling  was  mustanging,  rode  behind  me,  I  could  hear 
him  muttering  to  himself,  with  much  satisfaction,  "  Que 
buena,  que  chula " ;  which,  freely  translated,  means 
"  what  a  beautiful  place  !  " 

Coming  to  the  river  itself,  we  found  the  banks  of  loamy 
clay  about  seventy  feet  high,  with  many  cattle  and  bridle 
tracks  leading  down  to  its  boulder-strewn  bed,  and  on  the 
opposite  side,  hard  by  the  bank,  were  the  ranch  buildings 
plainly  to  be  seen.  Where  we  had  struck  the  Frio  it 
was  easily  fordable,  but  above  and  below  that  point  it 
spread  out  into  lakes  of  clear,  blue,  cool  water,  full  of 
fish  and  abounding  in  alligators  and  "  alligator  gar." 
Indeed  the  river,  for  nearly  the  whole  of  its  course,  is  a 
succession  of  these  lakes  or  "  water-holes,"  as  they  are 
called  in  Western  parlance. 

My  lot,  I  saw,  "  had  fallen  on  a  goodly  heritage  "  when 
I  bought  this  Frio  ranch.  But  there  were  two  drawbacks 
to  my  enjoyment  of  its  advantages  :  the  first,  over  which 
I  had  no  control,  the  Indians ;  the  second,  my  own  per 
verse  desire  to  mix  myself  up  in  the  great  War  of  the 
Secession, — the  last  being  more  fatal  to  my  prospects  of 


ON    THE    FRIG  187 

success  than  the  first.  If  I  had  only  stuck  to  ray  own 
business  of  cattle-raising,  for,  say,  ten  years,  I  have  no 
doubt  I  should  have  been  the  fortunate  owner  of  the 
finest  range  and  the  biggest  stock  of  beeves  in  all  Texas. 
However,  it  was  not  to  be  ;  and  regrets  are  useless,  or 
worse. 

Climbing  up  the  western  bank  of  the  river,  whose 
margin  was  lined  with  mulberry-trees  and  live-oaks, 
entwined  with  "  mustang  "  grape-vines  to  their  very 
summits,  we  found  ourselves  outside  the  high  mesquite 
picket-fence  surrounding  the  ranch.  Our  approach  was 
greeted  in  so  vociferous  and  threatening  a  manner  by 
about  a  dozen  hounds  and  "  Arkansas  curs,"  that  I 
thought  it  wisest  not  to  dismount  before  some  one  came 
out  to  quell  the  riot.  Long  and  loudly  I  shouted,  and 
after  some  minutes  an  ancient  darky  cautiously  peeped 
out  of  the  door  and,  having  carefully  reconnoitred  us, 
came  forth.  The  poor  old  fellow  was  overjoyed  when 
I  explained  who  I  was,  for  he  and  his  old  woman  had 
been  left  in  charge  by  Ragsdale  with  only  the  dogs  to 
protect  them  from  the  Indians,  and  so  terrified  were  they 
that  they  had  slept  in  the  chaparral  every  night. 

Aunt  Martha,  his  wife,  fixed  us  up  some  corn-bread 
and  venison,  with  a  good  brew  of  coffee,  and  whilst  this 
was  preparing  I  took  a  look  round  my  new  homestead. 
The  house  was  of  hewn  logs,  with  two  rooms,  one  above 
and  one  below  ;  the  former  reached  by  a  broad  stair- 
ladder  outside.  At  the  back  a  log  kitchen  with  dirt  floor, 
and  alongside  it  six  "  acaldes,"  or  Mexican  picket-houses, 
for  the  hands.  Behind  them  again,  good  log  "  smoke 
houses  "  and  fowl-houses  ;  the  whole  surrounded  by  a 
strong  picket-fence  enclosing  about  half  an  acre  of  ground 
dotted  about  with  beautiful  trees.  The  house  had  a 
rough  gallery  round  it,  a  pleasant  shady  place  to  sit  out 
on ;  but  it  was  wholly  innocent  of  glass,  the  windows 
being  only  closed  by  shutters. 

Outside   the   fence   were   the   cattle,   calf   and  horse, 


188  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

corrals,  all  well  fenced  with  high,  strong  picket-posts, 
and  the  former  was  capable  of  holding  2,000  cattle. 
With  the  ranch  went  the  freehold  of  a  square  league  of 
land,  or  1,920  acres  ;  whilst  all  the  splendid  grazing 
ground  for  miles  round  was  practically,  for  the  time 
being  at  least,  as  much  my  own  as  if  I  had  bought 
and  paid  for  it. 

To  the  west  of  the  ranch,  which  stood  on  a  knoll,  there 
was  an  extensive  view  over  the  gently  undulating  prairie, 
covered  with  the  richest  of  grass,  and  sprinkled  with 
fine  timber  which  gave  it  a  park-like  appearance.  Could 
heart  of  cattle-rancher  desire  anything  better,  anything 
more  perfect  for  his  business  ?  The  amari  aliquid 
was  the  Indians,  and  there  was  no  doubt  one  would  have 
to  keep  a  wary  eye  on  them  to  retain  one's  scalp  intact. 

The  Comanches  knew  the  range  well,  and  the  Lepans 
considered  it  their  special  property.  Only  the  previous 
spring  the  former  had  swept  this  very  district,  killing 
fifty  men,  women  and  children,  and  getting  safely  away 
with  a  big  drove  of  horses.  But  "  what  can't  be  cured 
must  be  endured,"  and  these  Indians  were  certainly 
incurable,  and,  as  Artemus  Ward  said,  "  pison  wherever 
met."  It  was  only  the  steady  march  of  civilisation  that 
could  rid  the  country  of  them,  and  that  has  done  its 
work  long  years  ago  now. 

After  breakfast,  and  having  rested  and  fed  our  horses, 
we  started  out  to  ride  down  the  west  side  of  the  Frio, 
about  twenty-five  miles  to  the  junction  with  the  Nueces 
River.  I  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  "  frontier  "  in  Missouri 
and  in  Kansas,  having  ridden  over  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  latter,  but  a  wilder  country  than  this  I  had  never 
beheld.  Not  a  human  being,  nor  sign  of  one,  did  we  see, 
but  plenty  of  bunches  of  I.X.L.  cattle,  in  wonderful 
condition  and  as  wild  as  bucks.  Deer,  and  peccary  too, 
were  in  abundance,  and  towards  sundown,  as  we  neared 
the  forks  of  the  Nueces,  a  great  drove  of  mustangs, 
perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  passed  ahead  of 


A    PIECE    OF    GOOD    LUCK  189 

us  at  a  gallop,  making  for  their  watering-place  on  the 
river.  Old  Juan  was  frantic  with  excitement,  and  I 
could  hardly  restrain  him  from  galloping  after  them, 
by  telling  him  he  should  come,  by  and  by,  and  rope  as 
many  as  he  liked. 

That  night  we  camped  on  a  water-hole  of  the  Frio, 
under  a  grove  of  splendid  "  peccan  "  trees.  Seated 
under  one  of  these,  watching  Juan  getting  ready  our 
supper,  a  piece  of  good  luck  befell  us  ;  for  along  the 
deer-trail,  a  few  steps  from  me,  came  a  troop  of  turkeys, 
strutting  leisurely  to  water.  At  the  head  of  his  harem 
marched  a  stately  gobbler,  unconscious  of  aught  but  his 
own  dignity  and  grandeur.  Though  it  was  a  risky  thing 
to  shoot  in  a  place  like  that,  the  old  fellow  was  too 
tempting  to  resist,  and  I  knocked  him  over  with  a 
shot  from  my  six-shooter. 

Juan  had  him  plucked  in  double-quick  time,  gave  him 
a  coat  of  clay,  scooped  out  a  hole,  and  baked  him  therein 
on  the  wood  ashes.  No  chef  or  professor  of  the  culinary 
art  can,  with  all  his  appliances,  produce  a  dish  to  beat 
this.  Be  it  deer-meat  or  turkey,  or  any  other  meat,  no 
way  of  cooking  it  equals  this  ;  but  perhaps  a  beef's 
head  treated  in  this  fashion  is  the  supremest  dish  of  all. 
It  makes  one  hungry,  even  now,  to  think  of  it. 

Next  day  we  rode  back  up  the  east  side  of  the  Frio, 
seeing  many  cattle,  and  plenty  of  unbranded  calves, 
which  showed  that  Ragsdale,  since  the  war-fever  had 
attacked  him,  had  let  his  stock  go  ;  all  the  better  for  us 
perhaps.  At  the  ranch  we  stopped  for  an  hour,  stripped 
the  horses,  and  fed  them,  whilst  we  breakfasted.  Then 
off  again,  and  rode  ten  miles  or  so  up  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  seeing  more  cattle,  and  a  pack  of  "  lobos  " — large 
wolves,  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  small  prairie 
variety,  or  coyotes.  Here  we  saw  very  fresh  Indian  sign, 
which  showed  that  a  considerable  band  had  struck  the 
river  at  this  point  and  turned  up  it,  travelling  north. 

Having  no  desire  to  run  into  these  gentry,  and  being 


190  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

moreover  more  than  satisfied  with  what  I  had  seen  of  the 
range,  which  indeed  was  unsurpassed  and  unsurpassable, 
we  crossed  the  Frio  and  struck  across  the  prairie  for  the 
Seco  Creek,  en  route  for  the  Medio.  The  Indians  being 
so  near,  we  made  no  fire  in  our  camp  that  night,  and 
went  coffeeless  to  sleep,  but  saw  nothing  more  of  the 
Comanches,  or  their  sign. 

Next  morning  we  were  in  the  saddle  before  sun-up, 
and  reached  Castro ville  in  safety  that  afternoon.  The 
little  town  was  in  great  excitement,  for  the  Indians  were 
on  the  warpath  again,  and  had  killed  a  German  settler 
in  the  Atacosa  country,  about  twenty  miles  south  of  the 
Medio,  and  the  other  side  of  the  Medina  River. 

My  old  friend  Paul,  with  whom  I  had  served  before, 
was  getting  up  a  command  to  follow  them,  and  nothing 
would  do  but  I  must  go  with  him.  Tired  as  I  was,  I 
couldn't  say  no,  under  the  circumstances  ;  for  men  were 
scarce  on  the  frontier,  and  his  command,  so  far,  consisted 
of  only  fifteen  young  Germans,  none  of  whom  knew  any 
thing  of  Indian  fighting.  So  I  agreed  to  join  the  scout 
at  noon  the  following  day,  at  a  small  ranch  south  of  the 
Medina,  and  bring  one  or  two  more  with  me  if  possible. 

In  the  meantime  I  was  bound  to  return  home  to  get  a 
fresh  horse  ;  for  the  one  I  was  riding  was  about  done  up, 
and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  get  him  to  the  ranch,  quite 
late  that  night.  Thompson  was  really  glad  to  see  me 
turn  up,  for  he  had  begun  to  think  the  Comanches  had 
got  me,  and  of  course  was  delighted  with  my  report  of 
the  Frio  ranch. 

He  had  heard  that  the  Indians  were  out  across  the 
Medina,  but  no  particulars  of  their  doings ;  however  when 
I  told  him  I  was  going  to  join  Paul's  scout  next  day,  he  at 
once  said  he  would  go  too.  "  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
fighting  the  Yankees,"  he  said,  "  but  this  Indian  business 
is  different,  and  if  I'm  going  to  live  on  this  frontier,  I 
must  do  my  part  like  the  rest  of  you."  The  good  old 
fellow  seemed  delighted  to  go,  and  as  "  his  soul  was  in 


INDIAN   TORTURES  191 

arms  and  eager  for  the  fray,"  I  was  very  pleased  to  have 
him  with  me,  especially  as  there  was  no  one  else  I  could 
enlist. 

He  saw  to  everything  for  me  ;  got  the  horses,  arms, 
and  provisions  ready  for  the  morrow,  whilst  I  threw 
myself  on  the  bed,  just  as  1  was,  and  slept  like  a  rock 
till  the  Mexicans  called  me  before  daybreak.  Then,  after 
a  swim  in  the  cool  water  of  the  creek,  and  a  hasty  break 
fast,  we  set  off  for  our  twenty-mile  ride  across  the  prairie  ; 
the  Colonel  in  the  highest  spirits  at  the  prospect  of  this 
his  first  brush  with  the  Comanches,  and  I  as  fresh  as 
paint  again.  We  reached  the  rendezvous  a  good  hour 
before  the  rest  of  the  command,  and,  for  my  part,  I  was 
glad  to  get  to  the  end  of  the  journey  ;  for  there  were  too 
many  Indians  about  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  we  two 
might  have  been  jumped  on  by  a  big  bunch  of  the  brutes 
at  any  moment. 

At  the  ranch  we  learned  that  the  Comanches  had  killed 
two  more  settlers,  one  of  whom  had  been  scalped,  after 
being  tortured  to  death  with  lance- thrusts.  The  "  sign  " 
showed  plainly  enough  the  diabolical  ingenuity  of  the 
wretches,  for  it  was  as  easy  to  read  as  a  book. 

They  had  roped  him,  and  driven  him  round  in  a  circle, 
prodding  him  the  while  with  lances,  till  he  had  died, 
literally  covered  with  wounds.  They  had  also,  which 
was  very  unusual,  attacked  a  big  ranch,  but  had  been 
beaten  off  by  the  owners,  who  were  well  armed.  More 
over  they  had  got  together  a  big  drove  of  horses,  and 
had  killed  a  great  many  cattle,  and  were  much  bolder 
and  more  careless  than  usual,  knowing  just  as  well  as 
we  did  that  the  frontier  was  no  longer  protected  by 
U.S.  troops,  and  that  our  best  young  "  braves  "  had 
gone  to  the  war.  Indeed  at  that  time  we  suffered 
terribly  from  Indian  raids,  owing  to  these  causes,  and  no 
outlying  ranch  was  safe  from  attack,  so  that  very  many 
were  abandoned  by  their  owners. 

When  the  command  appeared,  and  I  had  had  a  look 


192  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

round,  I  can't  say  I  was  much  impressed  by  the  appear 
ance  of  the  men.  They  were  well  mounted  and  armed, 
but  I  couldn't  feel  very  sanguine  as  to  the  result  if  we 
did  come  up  with  the  enemy  ;  for  except  Paul,  Demp. 
Forrest  and  myself,  none  were  real  frontiersmen,  or  used 
to  this  kind  of  work.  However  they  all  seemed  very 
keen,  and  so  after  a  short  halt  we  set  off,  nineteen  in 
number,  on  a  trail  the  most  inexperienced  could  follow, 
it  was  so  wide  and  plain.  At  dusk  we  struck  the  Co- 
manche  camp  of  the  previous  night,  and  all  next  day 
followed  it  as  fast  as  we  dared  go.  We  were  evidently 
overhauling  the  Indians,  who  were  hampered  and  delayed 
by  the  big  bunch  of  horses  they  were  driving,  and  I  felt 
sure  we  should  catch  them,  and  have  a  fight.  The  trail 
was  now  heading  for  the  Presidio  crossing  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  the  only  fear  was  lest  they  might  get  over 
into  Mexican  territory  before  we  came  up  with  them,  for 
there  they  would  be  safe  from  pursuit. 

The  third  day  we  pressed  on  as  fast  as  our  tired  horses 
could  go,  with  Demp.  Forrest  the  trailer  and  two  scouts 
well  ahead  ;  the  rest  riding  two  and  two,  with  Paul  and 
myself  leading  the  van.  The  excitement  was  intense, 
for  now  the  Rio  Grande  was  not  so  very  far  ahead. 
Would  the  devilish  murderers  escape  us  after  our  hard 
ride  ?  Even  the  rawest  German  trader  was  keen  for 
blood  now,  and  my  friend  was  quite  wild  !  I  could 
scarce  realise  that  it  was  the  same  placid,  good-natured 
old  Thompson  ;  but  I  suppose  it  was  the  tale  of  the  poor 
young  German's  awful  death  that  had  roused  the  fight 
latent  in  him. 

About  midday  Demp.  came  riding  back,  at  full  gallop, 
to  report  that  he  had  located  the  band,  camped  in  a 
brushy  Canada,  about  three  miles  from  the  crossing,  and 
that  all  seemed  busy  cooking  and  eating.  Round  their 
camp  he  had  seen  a  big  lot  of  the  stolen  horses,  perhaps 
two  or  three  hundred  in  number.  There  was  plenty  of 
brush  for  covert,  near  the  Canada,  and,  as  the  Comanches 


THE    COMANCHE    "V"  193 

seemed  careless  and  off  their  guard,  he  thought  we 
might  possibly  surprise  them  if  we  hurried  up. 

Rifles,  six-shooters,  and  cartridge-belts  were  carefully 
examined,  and  off  we  set  at  a  lope,  Paul  leading,  and  I 
bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  column  to  prevent  straggling. 
I  confess  1  felt  rather  anxious  as  to  how  our  raw  recruits 
would  behave.  An  Indian  yell,  before  the  brutes  charge, 
is  not  a  pleasant  sound  to  hear  for  the  first  time,  and  I 
wasn't  sure  how  my  young  friends'  nerves  would  stand 
it.  If  any  of  them  gave  way,  we  should  have  the  Co 
manches  charge  into  us  to  a  certainty  ;  and  they  out 
numbered  us  by  more  than  three  to  one.  Most  of  them, 
I  was  glad  to  see,  seemed  still  keen  enough,  though  one 
or  two,  I  fancied,  had  cooled  down  a  bit  in  their  ardour, 
and  these  I  resolved  to  keep  close  by  me  when  the  pinch 
came. 

Now,  as  we  pressed  on  over  the  rolling  prairie  and 
between  the  thick  standing  clumps  of  nopal,  our  scouts 
came  back  and  reported  there  was  no  hope  of  a  surprise, 
for  the  Indians  had  left  their  camp  and,  having  mounted, 
had  taken  up  a  position  on  a  "  lomo,"  or  ridge,  hard  by, 
where  they  evidently  meant  to  fight.  No  men  fight 
harder  than  these  Comanches  when  driven  into  a  corner, 
but  here  their  retreat  over  the  river  was  secure  ;  so  it 
was  doubtful  whether  they  would  make  a  big  fight  to 
save  their  plunder,  or  bolt  to  save  their  own  skins. 

Paul  formed  his  little  troop  in  line  to  the  front,  and, 
advancing  to  about  eighty  yards  from  the  ridge,  dis 
mounted  his  men  ;  the  horses'  reins  were  thrown  over 
the  men's  left  arms,  and  orders  given  to  reserve  fire  till 
Paul  gave  the  signal.  Then  every  man  to  mount  in 
double-quick  time  and  have  at  the  Indians,  six-shooters 
in  hand. 

Hardly  were  we  ready  when  the  Comanches  came  on, 
in  V  formation,  at  a  good  hand  canter  down  the  hill, 
between  sixty  and  seventy  in  number  and  yelling  like 
demons.  They  had  let  drive  their  arrows,  and  a  young 

13 


194  A    RANCHER'S    PARADISE 

fellow  named  Peter  sen  got  two  of  them,  one  in  his  shoulder 
and  the  other  in  his  thigh.  It  was  a  nervous  moment, 
though  Petersen  was  the  only  man  hit ;  but  the  fellows 
stood  steady,  even  those  I  had  thought  doubtful,  gripping 
then*  rifles  and  waiting  for  the  word. 

"  Fire,  boys  !  "  shouted  Paul,  and  at  about  fifty  or 
sixty  yards'  distance  we  poured  in  our  volley.  Six 
Indians  dropped,  and  others  we  could  see  were  wounded, 
perhaps  a  dozen  of  them,  but  they  stuck  to  their  ponies. 
It  was  too  hot  for  them  to  stand,  and  the  formation 
broke  at  once,  and  wheeled  about  in  full  retreat  up  the 
slope.  It  seemed  only  a  moment  before  we  were  mounted, 
but  even  as  we  started  in  pursuit  the  active  Indian  ponies 
had  topped  the  ridge  and  disappeared.  Helter-skelter 
they  went  for  the  crossing,  only  half  a  mile  away,  and 
before  we  could  catch  up  with  them  were  over  in  Mexican 
territory,  where  they  knew  our  boys  wouldn't  follow 
them. 

We  had  done  pretty  well,  considering  the  composition 
of  the  command  ;  but  of  course  could  have  cut  up  pretty 
well  the  whole  of  the  band  if  we  had  had  enough  men  to 
divide,  and  secure  the  crossing.  We  gathered  about  two 
hundred  horses,  after  a  good  deal  of  trouble  ;  so  the 
Comanches  didn't  get  away  with  many. 

Well  pleased  with  the  success  we  had  met  with,  we 
camped  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  feasted  right  royally 
on  a  fat  yearling  the  enemy  had  left  behind. 

Poor  Petersen  was  badly  hurt ;  but  the  arrow-heads 
were  cut  out  and  the  wounds  dressed  as  well  as  might  be, 
and  we  got  him  back  to  Castroville,  where  he  eventually 
recovered. 

All,  as  I  have  said,  were  well  pleased  ;  but  none  more 
so  than  old  Thompson,  who  vowed  he  had  grassed  one 
buck  and,  if  he  knew  it,  would  never  miss  another  Indian 
hunt. 


CHAPTER    V 

ASA  MINSHTJL,   PREACHER 

WHEN  we  returned  to  Castroville,  after  the  Indian  fight 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  the  German  inhabitants  (we  always 
called  them  "  Dutch,"  though  I  don't  know  why)  gave 
us  quite  an  ovation,  and  feasted  the  whole  party  with 
their  best. 

A  list  was  made  of  all  the  brands  on  the  captured 
horses,  and  a  notice  stuck  up  that  the  owners  could 
reclaim  them  on  payment  of  a  small  fee.  Those  not 
claimed  within  a  fortnight  were,  with  the  Indian  trophies, 
sold  at  public  auction. 

Randall,  who  had  bought  our  ranch,  was  not  ready  to 
pay  the  balance  due,  so  we  did  not  hand  over  possession. 
I  filled  up  the  time  of  waiting  by  hunting  cattle,  and, 
after  another  three  weeks'  hard  riding,  collected  another 
twenty-five  of  our  brand,  which  made  up  our  number  in 
the  corrals  to  five  hundred. 

Being  a  member  of  the  K.G.C.,  and  having  voted  for 
Jeff  Davis  for  President  and  served  three  months  under 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  I  was  pretty  well  known  in  San 
Antonio  as  "  sound  on  the  goose,"  which  meant  a  good 
Southern  man,  and  at  this  time  was  a  good  deal  in  the 
town  and  in  the  camps  of  instruction.  In  the  latter  I 
met  General  Wasp  in  command,  General  Sibley,  Colonel 
Green,  and  many  others,  with  whom  I  became  very 
friendly.  At  this  time  the  war-fever  ran  very  high  in 
Texas,  and  throughout  the  South.  The  battle  of  Bull 
Run  had  been  fought  and  won,  and  every  one  was  sanguine 
of  victory.  It  was  with  all  of  us  only  a  question  of  how 

195 


196  ASA   MINSHUL,   PREACHER 

long  it  would  take  us  to  whip  the  Yankees,  and  what  we 
should  do  with  them  when  that  was  accomplished  ;  we, 
were  indeed  proceeding  to  dispose  of  the  lion's  skin  before 
we  had  slain  him  !  For  myself,  I  was  just  as  sanguine 
and  as  excited  as  the  rest,  and  never  dreamed  the  South 
could  be  beaten.  It  was  the  common  opinion  that  the 
war  would  not  last  more  than  six  months,  or  at  the 
outside  a  year  ;  and  that,  if  England  and  France  would 
acknowlege  our  independence,  it  would  be  over  directly. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  laugh  at  our  shortsightedness  and 
vanity  now,  and  the  proud  Southerners  paid  a  heavy 
enough  penalty  for  it  too  ;  how  heavy,  in  the  downfall 
of  their  pride  and  the  ruin  that  overtook  them,  no  one 
can  realise  who  was  not  an  eye-witness  of  the  debacle 
in  1865. 

Now,  in  this  summer  of  1861,  I  was  almost  carried  off 
my  feet  by  the  prevailing  excitement ;  and  when  General 
Wasp  offered  me  a  captain's  commission  in  the  Partizari 
Rangers,  these  being  raised  for  service  in  Tennessee,  it 
was  hard  to  resist  the  temptation.  But  I  had  this  Frio 
ranch  on  my  hands  and  Thompson  to  look  after  and 
consider,  so  I  had  to  decline  with  many  thanks,  though 
I  told  the  General,  if  the  war  lasted,  I  should  serve,  if 
only  in  the  ranks.  I  may  say  I  was  as  good  as  my 
word,  for  I  did  serve  eventually,  and  under  General 
Wasp  too,  who,  though  an  old  West  Point  man,  was  not 
a  brilliant  commander. 

About  the  time  I  am  writing  of,  I  happened  to  be  in 
San  Antonio  staying  with  some  friends,  and  was  a  witness 
of  a  deed  perpetrated  by  the  Vigilance  Committee  that 
almost  surpasses  in  cool  villainy  any  of  its  doings. 

It  was  a  lovely  evening,  and  many  people  were  stroll 
ing  about  the  Plaza,  whilst  under  the  shade  of  the  trees 
surrounding  it,  numbers  of  Mexicans  were  seated  at  tables 
playing  their  great  gambling  game  of  "  Monte."  A 
young  Ranger  from  the  camp  of  instruction,  with  perhaps 
too  much  aguadiente  in  him,  appeared  and  began  jumping 


A    DRUNKEN    SPREE  197 

over  the  tables,  some  of  which  he  capsized.  Five  or 
six  of  the  city  marshals  ran  up,  and  after  a  big  fight 
arrested  him  and  carried  him  off  to  jail.  A  simple 
drunken  row,  common  enough  in  those  days,  of  which 
one  took  no  notice  ;  but  it  was  to  have  a  tragic  enough 
ending  for  the  unfortunate  young  Ranger. 

Next  morning,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  I  walked  over  to 
the  Court  House  with  my  host,  Mr.  Sweets,  the  Mayor 
of  San  Antonio,  and  we  were  both  much  surprised  to  see 
a  crowd  of  several  hundreds  in  the  Plaza  fronting  the 
court  and  jail. 

I  sat  by  Sweets'  side  whilst  he  disposed  of  several 
trifling  cases,  amongst  others  that  of  the  Ranger,  who 
was  charged  with  creating  a  disturbance.  His  case  was 
dismissed  with  a  caution,  and  the  next  one  called  on. 
But  the  young  fellow,  a  smart-looking,  soldierly  man, 
though  acquitted,  seemed  in  no  hurry  to  regain  his 
freedom,  but,  on  the  contrary,  begged  the  Mayor  to 
keep  him  in  custody.  He  gave  no  reason  for  his  strange 
request,  though  no  doubt  he  had  a  strong  suspicion  of 
what  awaited  him  outside.  The  Mayor  said  he  had  no 
power  to  detain  him,  and  he  must  go. 

I  remembered  the  crowd  we  had  seen,  and  stepped  to 
the  door  to  see  what  was  going  on.  There  was  nothing 
much  in  its  demeanour  to  attract  attention,  but  it  had 
gathered  thickly  round  the  door,  as  though  patiently 
waiting  for  something,  or  somebody,  and  at  the  back 
I  saw  two  well-known  members  of  the  dread  committee. 
Hastening  back  to  Sweets  I  told  him  I  didn't  like  the 
look  of  the  crowd,  and  thought  there  was  mischief  afoot. 
I  don't  know  whether  he  heard  me,  for  just  then  the 
Ranger  was  asking,  more  earnestly  than  before,  to  be 
detained  in  custody.  Anyway,  his  answer  to  the  request 
was  short  and  sharp. 

"  Nonsense,  my  lad,  you  have  been  acquitted  ;  I  have 
no  power  to  keep  you,  and  you  must  go."  The  Ranger 
said  never  another  word,  but,  with  a  shrug  of  his 


198  ASA    MINSHUL,    PREACHER 

shoulders,  turned  on  his  heel  and  marched  out  to  his 
doom. 

The  moment  he  stepped  outside,  the  human  wolves, 
waiting  for  their  prey,  set  on  him,  dragged  him  across 
the  Plaza,  put  a  rope  round  his  neck,  and  strung  him 
up  to  a  tree  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  relate.  I  saw  it 
all,  but  of  course  was  absolutely  powerless  to  help.  I 
however  went  off,  as  fast  as  my  horse  could  carry  me, 
to  the  camp  to  tell  the  tale  to  the  victim's  comrades,  in 
the  hope  that  they  would  avenge  his  murder.  Quickly 
they  ran  to  get  their  arms,  but  the  General  fell  in  two 
regiments  of  infantry  and  marched  them  into  the  town 
to  keep  order,  or  I  verily  believe  the  villainous  committee 
would  have  had  to  mourn  the  loss  of  some  of  its  leading 
members  that  day.  They  were  well  known  to  every  one 
in  the  town  and  neighbourhood,  but  the  excitement 
died  down,  nothing  was  done  to  them,  and  their  evil 
power  remained  unshaken. 

The  young  fellow's  drunken  escapade  had  of  course 
nothing  to  do  with  his  hanging  ;  it  only  gave  his  enemies 
the  opportunity  of  catching  him  away  from  his  comrades. 
It  seems  that  two  years  before,  the  Vigilance  Committee 
had  hanged  a  brother  of  his  on  some  pretext  or  other, 
and  the  Ranger,  who  had  only  recently  arrived  in  San 
Antonio,  had  openly  threatened  that  he  would  shoot 
Asa  Minshul  and  Solomon  Chiswell,  the  leaders  who 
had  murdered  the  brother.  These  rascals  therefore,  to 
save  their  own  skins,  had  organised  the  hanging  I  had 
witnessed. 

It  made  one's  blood  boil  to  think  that  these  cowardly 
villains  could  terrorise  a  whole  State  like  this,  and  murder 
with  impunity  any  one  against  whom  they  had  a  spite. 
They  took  no  part  in  the  war,  and  never  one  of  them 
fired  a  shot  for  their  country  and  its  cause,  about  which 
they  talked  so  loudly,  but  stayed  at  home,  and  ruled 
those  who  did  the  fighting  by  their  terrible  secret  power. 

The  ramifications  of  this  secret  society,  which  in  its 


A    TEXAN    MAFIA  199 

constitution  was  something  like  the  Italian  Mafia,  of  evil 
notoriety,  were  very  wide,  but  though  the  leaders  were 
perfectly  well  known,  the  rank  and  file,  who  obeyed  their 
behests  without  question  or  hesitation,  were  difficult 
to  identify.  Some  of  course  were  known  and  shunned, 
as  much  as  those  ouside  the  organisation  dared  to ;  but 
the  terrible  part  of  the  thing  was  that  one  never  knew 
whether  the  man  you  met  on  pleasure,  or  on  business, 
or  in  whose  house  you  stayed  on  terms  of  friendship, 
might  not  be  a  member,  and  denounce  you.  A  terrible 
state  of  society,  truly  ;  but  no  private  organisation  could 
hope  to  cope  with  it,  and  in  those  disturbed  times  public 
law  and  order  were  in  abeyance. 

The  head  of  the  committee,  and  the  man  who  pulled 
the  strings,  was  Asa  Minshul,  a  well-to-do  merchant 
and  store-keeper  in  San  Antonio.  When  I  first  met  him 
he  was  about  fifty  years  of  age  ;  short,  stout,  and  florid, 
he  looked  what  he  was,  a  prosperous  tradesman.  More 
over  he  was  a  shining  light  amongst  the  Wesley ans,  in 
whose  church  he  often  preached  and  prayed  with  much 
unction.  I  have  often  been  in  his  house,  which  was  about 
the  best  in  the  town,  and  in  which  his  two  daughters,  who 
were  well  educated  and  musical,  gave  very  pleasant  parties. 

Now,  as  soon  as  I  found  what  terrible  power  this  man 
wielded,  and  how  necessary  it  was  for  one's  good  health 
to  be  friendly  with  him,  I  confess  with  some  shame  that 
I  cultivated  his  acquaintance.  The  old  ruffian  was  no 
doubt  fond  of  his  two  girls,  and  with  them  I  struck  up 
quite  a  friendship — not  entirely  disinterested  perhaps, 
though  they  were  pleasant  enough ;  also,  at  times,  I 
attended  his  ministrations  in  the  Wesleyan  church,  and 
listened  to  the  confounded  old  hypocrite's  long-winded 
discourses,  with  what  patience  I  might.  All  this  was 
somewhat  ignoble  no  doubt,  and  not  a  thing  to  boast 
of ;  but  there  was  always  that  rope  that  the  old  fellow 
was  said  to  carry  in  the  tall  white  hat  he  invariably 
wore,  and  one  would  do  a  good  deal  to  keep  it  from  off 


200  ASA    MTNSHUL,    PREACHER 

one's  neck.  Talking  of  that  rope,  there  was  a  good 
story  current  in  San  Antonio,  though  I  can't  vouch  for 
its  truth,  as  I  was  not  present  at  the  scene ;  at  any  rate, 
if  not  true,  it  was  "  well  invented." 

The  old  rascal  was  preaching  one  hot  Sunday  afternoon 
in  the  Wesley  an  church  to  a  crowded  congregation,  and 
by  his  side  on  the  pulpit-platform  he  placed  his  hat.  As 
he  vehemently  denounced  sinners,  and  urged  to  righteous 
ness  his  listening  flock,  the  perspiration  trickled  down 
his  forehead  so  fast  that  he  paused,  and  stooped  down 
for  his  handkerchief,  lying  in  his  hat.  But,  in  his  excite 
ment,  he  quite  forgot  what  else  his  hat  contained,  and 
hurriedly  seizing  the  handkerchief,  drew  out  with  it  a 
coil  of  rope  ! 

Randall  being  still  behind  in  his  payment,  the  Medio 
ranch  couldn't  be  handed  over,  and  I  couldn't  take  up 
my  abode  on  the  Frio.  So,  as  it  was  necessary  to  have 
some  one  in  charge,  I  hired  a  Mexican  and  his  wife  to 
look  after  the  place.  Then  I  got  old  Juan  to  find 
three  other  vaqueros,  besides  himself,  to  help  me  drive 
and  brand  on  the  range.  So  this  trip  we  were  quite  a 
party ;  the  man  and  his  wife  travelling  in  my  wagon, 
and  the  other  four  Mexicans  and  myself  mounted. 

Never  I  think  were  human  beings  more  delighted  to 
see  me  than  the  two  poor  old  darkies  at  the  ranch,  for 
they  had  made  up  their  minds  that  they  had  been 
abandoned  as  a  prey  to  the  Indians. 

We  hunted,  for  about  a  week,  up  and  down  the  Frio, 
and  in  the  forks  of  the  Nueces,  and  branded  two  hundred 
calves,  some  of  them  nearly  yearlings.  Game  as  before 
was  very  abundant,  and  we  lived  on  turkeys  and  deer- 
meat.  Every  now  and  then  we  scared  up  a  bunch  of 
mustangs,  but,  as  they  always  galloped  like  mad  for 
the  thick  chaparral,  the  Mexicans  only  managed  to 
rope  one  ;  a  beauty  that  I  can  only  describe  as  a  dwarf 
horse.  Him  I  gave  to  old  Juan,  to  his  huge  delight. 

When  we  had  finished  our  work  and  were  about  to 


GENERAL   SIBLEY'S    EXPEDITION        201 

leave,  the  Mexican  in  charge  wanted  to  come  away  too, 
before  he  lost  his  scalp,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty 
I  induced  him  to  stay,  and  only  on  the  promise  to  relieve 
him  very  shortly. 

The  Indians  of  course  could  have  raided  the  ranch 
at  any  time  that  they  pleased,  but  there  were  few  horses 
there  at  that  time,  and  that  is  why  they  left  it  alone. 
Cattle  were  of  no  account  in  their  eyes,  but  horses  they 
were  always  keen  to  steal.  We  had  already  bought 
fifty  Spanish  mares,  at  $5  a  head,  and  fifteen  "  cow  " 
horses  at  $25  apiece,  but  these  were  all  on  the  Medio 
still,  for  if  they  had  been  left  on  the  Frio  unprotected, 
the  Indians  would  have  driven  them  off  directly. 

It  was  now  about  the  end  of  October,  1861,  and  General 
Sibley  was  organising  his  Texan  Brigade  of  3,000  mounted 
men,  or  three  regiments  in  all,  for  his  expedition  to  New 
Mexico.  There  it  was  supposed  the  Northern  forces 
were  weak,  and  that  he  would  easily  overrun  the  country  ; 
with  the  result  that  probably  the  Far  Western  States, 
including  Arizona,  and  even  California,  might  join  the 
Confederacy.  It  was  a  foolhardy  scheme  to  send  the 
flower  of  our  Texan  youth  on  a  march  like  this  of  800 
miles,  into  a  country  where  they  had  no  base  of  operations 
and  could  get  no  reinforcements,  and  no  help,  unless 
they  met  with  complete  success.  But  our  leaders  were 
crazy,  I  think,  in  those  days,  and  believed  they  had  the 
game  in  their  own  hands  ;  so  no  enterprise  was  too  rash 
for  them  to  undertake.  I  saw  that  gallant  force  march 
away,  with  drums  beating  and  flags  flying,  and  every 
man,  from  the  General  downwards,  confident  of  victory. 

Alas  !  A  few  months  after,  I  saw  the  first  detach 
ment  of  the  remnant  come  straggling  back  on  foot, 
broken,  disorganised,  and  in  an  altogether  deplorable 
condition. 

The  tale  of  disaster  is  soon  told.  The  march  in  the 
fall  rains  was  a  most  arduous  one,  but  the  men  and 
horses  were  of  the  best,  and  struggled  through  it  bravely. 


202  ASA    MINSHUL,    PREACHER 

General  Canby,  of  the  U.S.  Army,  was  in  command 
against  Sibley.  This  officer  was,  long  years  after  this, 
prominently  engaged  in  the  war  with  the  Sioux  Indians, 
led  by  their  chief  Sitting  Bill,  when  that  tribe  made  its 
last  stand  for  its  hunting  grounds  and  its  freedom. 
Sibley  was  at  first  successful  in  several  engagements, 
notably  at  a  place  called  Val  Verde.  But  his  losses  were 
heavy  ;  California  and  the  rest  of  the  Far  West  stood 
firm  for  the  Union,  and  no  reinforcements  could  reach 
him.  The  South,  even  if  the  difficulty  of  distance  could 
have  been  overcome,  could  not  spare  a  man.  Canby, 
on  the  other  hand,  drew  all  the  troops  and  supplies 
he  wanted  from  California,  and  gradually  wore  down  his 
opponent. 

The  remnant  of  the  Texan  Brigade,  reduced  to  less 
than  half  its  original  strength,  commenced  its  retreat, 
harassed  throughout  the  greater  part  of  that  weary 
800  miles  by  the  victorious  enemy.  The  retreat  became 
a  rout,  and  the  brigade  ceased  to  exist  as  an  organised 
force.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  to  Texas,  and  to  the  Con 
federate  cause,  which  could  ill  afford  to  lose  such  men 
as  these. 

In  the  following  month  of  November,  Randall  still 
being  behindhand  with  his  payments,  and  we  unwilling 
to  hand  over  without  a  settlement  in  full,  I  went  out  to 
the  Frio  again,  to  see  how  my  Mexican  was  getting  on. 
This  time  I  went  quite  alone,  and,  taking  my  best  horse, 
Brownie  by  name,  did  the  journey  in  one  day.  Not  a 
pleasant  trip  for  a  lonely  man  to  take.  I  started  just 
before  daybreak,  and  halting  only  once  at  midday,  to 
rest  my  horse  for  a  brief  hour,  reached  the  ranch  at 
sundown.  You  may  be  sure  I  kept  a  sharp  look-out 
for  Indian  sign,  but  saw  none,  and  was  unmolested, 
both  going  and  returning. 

I  found  the  vaquero  all  right  in  health,  but  in  a  blue 
funk  at  being  left  so  long  alone  in  that  dangerous  spot. 
By  this  time  the  hounds  and  curs,  that  had  been  so 


MY  PET  DEER'S  SAD  FATE      203 

threatening  at  my  first  visit,  had  got  to  know  me,  and  gave 
me  a  friendly  greeting  ;  and  right  amongst  them,  on  good 
terms  with  all,  was  a  pet  deer  that  Ragsdale  had  tamed 
and  given  me.  It  would  follow  me  about  the  place  like 
a  dog,  and  usually  slept  in  the  house,  though  free  to 
wander  about  wherever  it  wished.  I  have  always  been  fond 
of  pet  animals — horses,  dogs,  cats,  monkeys,  peccaries  ; 
even  a  badger  is  a  friendly  beast,  as  I  know  from  ex 
perience,  if  kindly  treated,  and  all  are  interesting — 
some  of  them  very  lovable.  But  of  all  the  hosts  of  pets 
I  have  owned  in  my  long  life  this  deer  was  one  of  the 
most  friendly  and  fearless.  Of  course,  like  so  many 
of  its  kind,  it  came  to  a  tragic  end,  and  at  the  hands  of 
my  friend  Thompson,  of  all  people  ! 

At  his  first  visit  to  the  ranch  he  saw  the  poor  little 
fellow  browsing  quietly  in  the  chaparral  near  the  house, 
and  shot  it,  for  a  wild  one  !  It  was  his  ignorance  of  the 
ways  of  the  wild  creatures  that  led  him  to  do  it ;  but 
when  he  brought  it  home  in  triumph,  I  was  so  vexed 
and  grieved,  and  abused  him  so  roundly,  that  we  had  a 
desperate  quarrel,  and  didn't  speak  for  a  fortnight, 
though  practically  alone  at  the  ranch.  At  the  end  of 
this  time  I  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and  said,  "  I  can 
stand  this  no  more  ;  either  we  must  make  friends,  or 
part — one  or  the  other.  I  am  sorry  if  I  said  too  much. 
What  do  you  say  ?  "  He  grasped  my  hand,  and  shook 
it  warmly  ;  and  so  an  end  of  the  foolish  quarrel,  the  only 
one  we  ever  had. 

That  night  I  slept  at  the  ranch  on  a  "  cowskin,"  i.e. 
a  skin  rough-tanned  and  stretched  on  a  frame,  which 
makes  an  excellent  couch.  For  the  next  two  days 
we  hunted  the  chaparral  for  hogs,  of  which  Ragsdale 
said  he  had  about  300,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
he  was  about  right  in  his  calculations  ;  but  most  of 
them  were  so  wild,  and  could  travel  so  fast,  they  would 
have  given  good  sport  to  a  "  pig-sticker." 

When  I  got  back  to  the  Medio,  I  found  Colonel  Sydney 


204  ASA    MINSHUL,   PREACHER 

Johnson,  with  a  small  detachment,  staying  at  our  ranch. 
He  had  resigned  his  commission  in  the  U.S.  Army,  of 
which  he  was  a  most  distinguished  officer,  and  was  on 
his  way  to  Richmond  to  take  up  an  important  command 
under  the  Confederacy.  He  had,  as  a  captain,  done 
good  service  in  the  Mexican  War,  and,  next  to  Colonel 
Robert  Lee,  had  the  highest  repute  of  any  officer  in  the 
U.S.  Army.  He  was  a  strikingly  handsome  man,  of 
splendid  physique  and  most  winning  manners ;  in  fact 
he  was  a  Southern  gentleman  of  the  best  type.  Soon 
after  his  visit  to  us  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
general,  and  given  the  command  of  the  trans-Mississippi 
district.  There  he  did  good  service,  but  early  in  the 
following  year,  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  when  leading  one 
of  his  regiments  in  a  charge,  he  was  twice  wounded  ; 
the  second  time  mortally,  and  died  on  the  field.  The 
South  lost  in  him  one  of  its  best  soldiers  and  bravest 
men. 

Poor  fellow  !  I  well  remember  how  we  sat  and  smoked 
and  chatted  on  the  "  gallery  "  at  the  ranch,  after  our 
frugal  dinner  ;  and  how  cheering  it  was  to  listen  to  his 
sanguine  views  as  to  the  assured  success  of  the  Southern 
cause.  Next  morning  we  drank  success  to  the  South  ; 
shook  hands  warmly,  and  parted,  with  the  mutual  hope 
we  might  meet  again  when  the  troubles  were  over. 
The  brave  man's  own  troubles  were  soon  over,  for  within 
a  few  months  of  our  parting  he  was  dead  on  the  field  of 
honour,  and  was  spared  the  bitter  grief  so  many  of  his 
comrades  endured  at  the  ruin  of  their  country  and  their 
cause. 

Now  at  the  end  of  November  Randall  paid  up  the 
balance  due,  and  we  handed  over  the  store,  ranch,  cattle 
and  everything  to  him,  and  prepared  to  move  out  to 
the  Frio.  We  already  possessed  a  good  wagon,  but 
bought  an  "  ambulance "  for  extra  transport,  as  there 
were  many  impedimenta  to  cart  out  to  our  new  diggings. 

In  San  Antonio  I  managed  with  some  difficulty  to  hire 


A   PATRIARCHAL    MARCH  205 

three  Mexican  vaqueros  as  permanent  cattle-hands,  and 
two  of  these  were  blessed  with  "  mugers  "  and  several 
offspring.  The  establishment  was  completed  by  the 
hiring  of  a  nigger  woman  as  cook. 

Thompson  looked  after  the  armament  of  the  garrison, 
and  bought  three  double-barrelled  shotguns,  three 
rifles,  and  plenty  of  ammunition,  including  a  good 
supply  of  slugs  ;  most  useful  in  case  our  friends  the 
Comanches  looked  us  up,  which  they  were  pretty  sure 
to  do  sooner  or  later.  For  stores  we  laid  in  a  good  stock 
of  coffee,  sugar,  flour  and  bacon  ;  and  so,  with  the  wagons 
well  loaded  with  the  Mexican  women  and  children  and 
our  and  their  "  plunder,"  we  set  out  for  the  Frio  two 
days  before  Christmas  1861. 

It  was  almost  like  a  patriarchal  procession  of  old,  for 
ahead  of  the  wagons  went  Thompson,  the  three  vaqueros, 
and  myself  on  horseback,  driving  before  us  the  fifty 
mares  and  fifteen  "  cow-horses  "  for  cattle  hunting.  Our 
progress  with  the  heavily  laden  wagons  was  slow,  and  it 
was  not  till  late  in  the  afternoon  of  Christmas  Eve  that 
we  reached  the  ranch.  Thompson  was  delighted  with  what 
he  saw  of  the  range,  though  he  vowed  it  smelt  of  Indians. 

By  the  time  we  had  got  the  wagons  through  the 
chaparral  and  over  the  difficult  crossing  it  was  nearly 
dusk,  but  we  soon  had  our  furniture,  such  as  it  was,  in 
the  house,  and  settled  the  Mexicans  in  their  huts  or 
acaldes.  Then,  in  honour  of  the  occasion  and  for  a  sort 
of  house-warming  feast,  I  shot  a  fine  fat  yearling,  which 
provided  a  sumptuous  dinner  for  all  hands.  How  those 
Mexicans  did  eat  !  You  wouldn't  believe  that  human 
beings  could  put  away  so  much  solid  meat  at  a  sitting, 
but  it  wasn't  often  the  poor  beggars  got  beef  like  that 
unless  they  stole  it ;  and  in  that  case  there  was  always 
the  afterthought  of  the  rope  to  follow  if  they  were 
found  out. 


CHAPTER    VI 

GENERAL   HOOD 

RAGSDALE,  as  I  said  before,  had  "  let  his  stock  go,"  and 
there  was  an  immense  amount  of  work  to  be  done  in 
driving  and  branding  calves  and  yearlings. 

On  Christmas  day  no  Mexican  can  be  got  to  work  for 
love  or  money,  so  the  "  fiesta,"  as  they  call  it,  was  kept 
as  best  we  might  in  that  out-of-the-way  place ;  not 
without  memories  of  other  Christmas  days,  so  different 
from  these,  and  distant  friends,  and  holly-decked  churches 
in  far-off  England. 

My  friend  Thompson  was  very  reticent  about  his  past, 
and  never  spoke  of  it,  at  least  not  till  the  great  parting 
was  nigh  at  hand,  when  he  told  me  why  he  had  left  his 
home  and  friends  and  come  out  to  the  Far  West.  For 
him  as  well  as  for  myself  that  day  was  haunted  by  re 
membrances,  and,  though  we  tried  to  be  cheerful  and 
jolly,  I  think  the  gaiety  was  rather  forced,  and  silence 
often  fell  upon  us.  But  work  must  be  done,  and  it  is 
the  best  antidote  to  carking  care  and  haunting  regrets. 
So  next  day  I  sallied  forth  with  three  Mexicans  to  drive 
cattle,  and  came  back  with  a  good  bunch.  It  was  that 
same  evening  that  Thompson  shot  my  pet  deer,  as 
previously  related. 

Early  in  the  following  January  (1862)  we  invited  three 
friends  from  San  Antonio  to  come  out  and  have  a  week's 
hunting  with  us,  and  had  some  very  good  sport,  which 
we  all  thoroughly  enjoyed. 

Deer,  peccary  and  turkeys  were  very  abundant,  espe- 

206 


HUNTING    IN    THE    CHAPARRAL          207 

cially  the  peccary,  which  were  a  sure  find  in  the  chap 
arral  along  the  Frio  banks  ;  the  only  difficulty  was  to 
get  them  out  of  the  dense  covert  of  thorny  bush.  This 
was  four  or  five  miles  wide  on  either  side  of  the  river, 
and  extended  for  about  forty  miles  along  its  banks. 

All  five  of  us   would   sally   forth,    after    early  coffee, 
well    mounted  and  carrying    shotguns  and  six-shooters. 
Amongst  our  miscellaneous  collection  of  dogs  were  five 
well  broken  to  "  javalines  "  or  peccary  ;  a  very  important 
matter,  for  if  your  hounds  are  not  used  to  the  ways  of 
these  little  pigs,  they  are  apt  to  get  terribly  cut  up  by 
their  razor-like  short  tusks.     They  are  generally  found, 
in   the    daytime,   in    the  chaparral  near   the  water,   in 
bunches  of  four  or  five,  and,  when  put  up  by  the  hounds, 
go  off  at  a  clinking  pace  for  a  short  distance,  the  pack 
in  full  cry  after  them.     Presently,  being  fat  and  short 
of  wind,  they  set  up  against  a  tree  or  rock,  ready  to 
charge  the  first  comer,  be  it  man,  or  horse,  or  dog.     They 
are   absolutely    fearless    when    cornered   like    this,    and 
nothing  will  stop  them  but  death  ;    so  the  dogs  that 
hunt  them  soon  learn  by  sad  experience  not  to  get  too 
close.     I  have  had  dogs  that  would  kill  them,  but  they 
were  new  to  the  game,  and  always  got  badly  cut  up. 

The  hounds  then  being  thrown  into  covert,  we  rode 
along  outside,  or  followed  the  narrow  cattle-paths  as 
best  we  might,  riding  to  the  music  of  the  pack  as  fast  as 
the  awful  cat-claw  thorns  would  let  us.  Presently  the 
sound  showed  the  run  was  over,  and  the  peccary  "  set 
up,"  and  it  was  a  race  who  should  get  up  first  to  shoot 
the  pig  or  pigs.  Our  friends  from  San  Antonio,  being 
new  to  the  sport,  and  eager  for  blood,  got  terribly  torn 
by  the  thorns  at  first,  but  soon  learned  caution.  In 
this  way  we  often  killed  half  a  dozen  peccary  of  a 
morning.  We  never  ate  the  meat,  though  why  I  hardly 
know,  except  that  no  one  in  Texas  did,  unless  it  was  the 
Mexicans  when  short  of  flesh.  I  have  been  told  since 
-  that  peccary  hams  are  considered  quite  a  delicacy  in 


208  GENERAL    HOOD 

Central  America,  but  never  having  tasted  them,  can't 
say.  The  Mexicans  generally  took  the  hides  off,  and 
they  made  capital  mats  and  floor-coverings. 

To  get  deer  was  a  more  difficult  matter  in  that  thick 
covert,  though  there  were  any  number  of  them  on  the 
Frio  in  those  days.  The  usual  way  was  for  the  guns  to 
take  post  on  the  deer-trails  leading  down  to  the  river, 
and  then  to  turn  every  available  dog  into  the  chaparral, 
on  the  chance  that  the  deer  might  break  for  the  water 
and  give  a  shot ;  but  it  was  very  uncertain  work,  and 
one  might  wait  all  day  without  seeing  a  deer.  Another 
way  was  to  beat  the  comparatively  open  brushy  glades 
under  the  live-oak  trees,  round  the  great  water-holes  or 
miniature  lakes,  arid  in  that  fashion  good  sport  was 
often  to  be  had. 

For  the  wild  turkeys  we  used  to  go  down  to  the  river 
after  supper,  a  little  before  sundown,  and  take  post  near 
the  roosts  with  guns  loaded  with  buckshot.  The  Frio 
in  dry  weather  formed  a  series  of  small  lakes  from  one 
hundred  to  four  hundred  yards  in  length,  with  sub 
terranean  connection  between  each,  and  the  water  was 
beautifully  clear  and  blue.  Round  all  there  were  fringes 
of  splendid  live-oaks,  and  there  the  turkeys  came  nightly 
to  roost,  their  favourite  spots  being  clearly  to  be  seen 
from  the  "  sign  "  under  the  trees. 

Hiding  oneself  near  the  selected  roost  one  could  sit 
and  smoke  at  ease,  with  the  certainty  that  some  old 
patriarch  of  a  gobbler  would  presently  come  along  with 
his  harem  of  perhaps  ten  or  a  dozen  hens.  As  the  sun 
dipped  below  the  horizon,  and  the  brief  twilight  began 
to  fade  into  darkness,  the  gobblers  commenced  to  summon 
their  families  to  bed,  and  the  chaparral  soon  resounded 
with  their  cries.  Then,  solemnly  marching  down  the 
path  to  its  own  particular  roost,  would  come  the  pro 
cession,  in  single  file,  with  stately  steps.  With  much 
flapping  of  wings,  for  it  is  difficult  to  raise  so  heavy  a 
body  off  the  ground,  the  leader  flies  up  into  the  tree, 


TURKEY-ROOSTS  209 

and  his  family  quickly  follow  him,  one  by  one.  Not 
till  all  are  settled  must  you  shoot,  or  the  first  shot  will 
scare  the  whole  lot  away.  When  all  have  flown  up  you 
can  shoot  three  or  four,  or  more  perhaps,  without  the 
others  moving  ;  only  you  must  be  careful  not  to  show 
yourself.  In  those  days  the  turkeys  didn't  seem  to 
know  what  the  report  of  a  gun  meant,  though  they 
understood  well  enough  that  a  man  was  an  enemy  ;  now 
I  daresay  they  are  wiser — i.e.  if  there  are  any  left  to 
profit  by  the  experience  of  their  forbears. 

Another  way  to  get  them  wholesale,  was  to  walk 
down  the  river,  following  the  cattle  or  deer  trails  of  a 
moonlit  night,  and  shoot  them  off  the  various  roosts 
you  came  to.  Doing  this,  I  have  often  shot  twenty 
or  more  of  a  night,  but  that  was  only  when  I  was  sending 
a  wagon  into  San  Antonio  and  wanted  a  load  for  my 
various  friends  there,  not  forgetting  that  holy  man 
Mr.  Asa  Minshul,  with  whom,  as  I  have  explained,  I  was 
particularly  anxious  to  keep  on  friendly  terms. 

By  the  by,  on  one  of  these  walking  shoots  Thompson 
nearly  killed  me.  He  was  walking  close  behind  me  and, 
by  some  carelessness,  let  off  his  gun.  One  of  the  buck 
shots  cut  my  pants  and  grazed  my  leg  ;  it  was  a  narrow 
escape,  one  of  the  narrowest  of  the  many  I  have  had. 
"  Now,  old  fellow,"  I  said,  "  it's  my  turn,  so  you  walk 
ahead,  and  let  me  have  the  next  shot." 

As  the  result  of  the  shoot,  our  friends  carried  away 
with  them,  in  my  wagon,  two  deer  and  forty  turkeys, 
and  were  mightily  pleased  with  their  sport. 

On  the  prairie  there  were  many  coyotes,  or  prairie 
wolves,  and  "  lobos,"  as  the  Mexicans  called  them  ;  the 
big  grey  variety  of  the  same  species.  At  that  time 
neither  of  them  afforded  us  any  sport,  for  our  hounds 
were  not  fast  enough  to  run  them  with  any  chance  of  a 
kill.  Later  on  we  got  a  small  pack,  specially  for  the 
purpose,  and  had  some  rare  good  fun  with  them. 

The    coyote    is    the    most    artful,    sneaking,    thieving 

14 


210  GENERAL    HOOD 

brute  in  creation,  and  makes  himself  a  great  nuisance 
on  the  ranches.  How  wonderfully  Mark  Twain  has 
described  him,  in  his  celebrated  monograph !  The 
beast  is  all  Mark  says,  and  a  little  more  ;  for  though 
he  lives  chiefly  on  carrion  and  any  unconsidered  trifle 
he  can  steal,  he  is  not  above  helping  himself  to  a 
sick  calf,  if  he  can  catch  it  away  from  the  cow,  and 
chickens  he  is  death  on  !  And  what  a  pace  the  gaunt, 
mangy-looking  "  varmint  "  can  travel  !  Since  my  Texan 
days  I  have  seen  many  a  good  fox  bustled  along  by  a 
fast  pack  of  hounds,  but  a  coyote,  I  believe,  would  have 
the  legs  of  the  fastest  and  outlast  the  staunchest. 

The  "  lobos  "  were  thundering  great  brutes  and  did 
us  a  lot  of  damage,  especially  in  calving  time,  when  they 
killed  many  calves.  They  couldn't  do  much  with  the 
cattle,  or  bunches  of  mares  and  horses,  for  these,  when 
attacked,  formed  square  to  receive  the  enemy ;  the 
former  with  their  heads,  and  the  latter  with  their  heels, 
outwards.  But  they  snapped  many  a  yearling  and 
young  thing,  if  they  could  catch  them  away  from  a  herd. 
We  rid  ourselves,  as  much  as  we  could,  of  these  pests 
with  poison,  sticking  a  good  dose  of  strychnine  into  any 
dead  beast  found  on  the  range,  or  into  offal  laid  for  the 
purpose.  But  I  am  bound  to  confess  that  we  were  more 
successful  in  killing  the  lobos  in  this  way  than  the  coyotes  ; 
for  the  latter  were  so  artful,  and  so  keen  of  scent,  it  was 
very  hard  to  catch  them. 

For  the  first  two  months  of  the  following  year, 
Thompson,  the  Mexicans,  and  I  were  on  horseback  every 
day,  and  all  day,  gathering  cows  and  calves  in  the  home 
range  and  making  ourselves  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
it,  so  that  we  might  know  where  to  find  the  cattle  when 
wanted ;  for  these  have  their  different  feeding  grounds, 
scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  range. 

There  were  plenty  of  rumours  of  Indians  on  the  move, 
which  caused  us  some  uneasiness,  and  much  trouble, 
for  we  had  to  corral  the  horses  every  night.  Early  in 


FLAYING    DEAD    INDIANS  211 

February  a  big  band  of  them  passed  within  a  couple  of 
miles  of  the  ranch,  as  we  saw  from  their  trail.  They 
killed  half  a  dozen  or  so  of  our  cattle,  but  didn't  molest 
us  further,  possibly  because  they  thought  we  were  too 
strong  and  well  armed.  Passing  us  by  for  that,  or  some 
other  good  reason,  they  went  on  to  the  head  of  the  Hondo 
River,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  us,  and  there  killed, 
scalped,  and  mutilated  a  settler  named  Reeders  and  his 
two  sons.  These  poor  fellows  had,  in  a  measure,  courted 
their  fate  by  doing  a  deed  which,  though  it  was  highly 
applauded  all  along  the  frontier,  where  Indians  were 
"  pi  son,"  was  a  very  brutal  and  barbarous  one,  worthy 
only  of  the  Comanches  themselves. 

Six  months  before  they  met  their  fate,  the  Reeders, 
who  were  old  and  experienced  frontiersmen,  having  seen 
Indian  sign  about  their  ranch,  penned  their  horses  one 
night,  and  lay  up,  armed  with  their  rifles  and  six-shooters, 
in  the  corral.  Sure  enough,  an  hour  or  two  before  dawn 
a  big  bunch  of  Indians  rode  up,  threw  down  the  corral 
bars,  and  began  to  drive  out  the  horses.  The  Reeders 
let  drive  into  the  thick  of  the  Comanches,  but  in  the 
darkness  couldn't  aim,  and  only  killed  two  of  them. 
The  rest  bolted,  leaving  their  dead  behind  them,  which 
shows  they  were  properly  scared  by  the  unexpected 
attack. 

So  far  so  good  ;  but  the  Reeders,  not  content  with 
having  killed  two  of  the  thieves,  proceeded  next  day  to 
flay  them.  Then  they  stretched,  dried,  and  rough- 
tanned  the  skins  for  saddle-tree  covers,  razor-strops, 
belts,  etc.  This  was  soon  "  orated  round "  on  the 
frontier,  and  won  the  perpetrators  much  kudos  amongst 
the  ranchers.  But  the  wiser,  cooler  ones  shook  their 
heads  ;  the  Comanches,  they  knew,  would  be  revenged 
for  this  insult  to  their  dead,  and  the  Reeders  had  better 
look  out,  or  they  would  get  them  to  a  certainty. 

They  were  right,  for  in  less  than  six  months  the  Indians 
followed  them  from  the  ranch,  when  they  went  cow- 


212  GENERAL    HOOD 

hunting,  and  caught  them  unawares,  no  one  knows  how. 
When  they  didn't  come  back,  search  was  made  the  fol 
lowing  day  by  their  nearest  neighbour,  and  the  poor 
mutilated  bodies  found  not  far  away.  The  poor  widow, 
robbed  in  one  day  of  her  husband  and  her  sons,  all  she 
had  in  the  world,  was  broken-hearted,  and  died  not  long 
afterwards  in  San  Antonio. 

On  this  same  raid  the  Comanches  attacked  a  ranch 
near  Dhannis,  in  the  same  country,  not  far  from  Fort  Inge, 
formerly  held  in  some  force  by  the  U.S.  troops,  to  keep 
down  the  Indians  and  protect  the  frontier.  The  men,  as 
the  Indians  probably  knew,  were  away  cow-hunting,  so 
they  killed,  and  scalped,  the  mother  and  her  two  little 
girls,  three  and  five  years  old.  At  that  ranch  alone  they 
got  over  one  hundred  horses,  and  crossed  the  Rio  Grande 
unmolested.  There  were  no  troops  to  foUow  them,  and 
the  settlements  were  so  sparsely  scattered  in  that  region, 
it  was  hopeless  to  organise  a  scout  for  pursuit ;  indeed, 
before  the  news  reached  us,  they  must  have  been  close  to 
the  Mexican  border. 

Talking  of  Forte  Inge  reminds  me  that  I  forgot  to 
mention  that  I  met  there,  when  Thompson  and. I  were 
prospecting  the  previous  year,  a  U.S.  officer  who,  at  the 
time  I  am  now  writing  of,  had  made  himself  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  reputations  in  the  Confederate  service. 
I  refer  to  General  Hood,  a  man  of  indomitable  courage, 
whose  fiery  spirit  and  power  of  leadership  prompted  his 
men  to  such  deeds  of  valour  as  all  the  world  wondered  at. 
His  story,  I  suppose,  is  all  but  forgotten  now,  for  things 
move  so  rapidly  in  these  times,  and  there  are  so  many 
fresh  excitements,  that  the  great  and  heroic  struggle  of 
the  Confederacy  itself  is  almost  like  a  half -remembered 
dream,  even  to  those  who  took  part  in  it.  His  name, 
however,  should  never  die,  but  live  for  all  time  on  the 
scroll  of  deeds  of  honour. 

I  will,  as  briefly  as  may  be,  recount  how  he,  and  his 
Texan  Brigade,  covered  themselves  with  renown  at 


THE    MEETING    AT    FORT    INGE  213 

Gaines'  Mill,  in  the  great  fight  with  McClellan,  on  the 
Chickahominy  ;  but  first  as  to  our  meeting  in  the  wilds 
of  the  Mexican  frontier. 

He  was  then  about  thirty  years  of  age,  a  simple  lieu 
tenant  of  U.S.  cavalry,  in  command  of  the  post. 

Thompson  and  I  pitched  camp  one  evening  close  to 
Fort  Inge — i.e.  we  had  off-saddled  our  horses  and  were 
cooking  our  supper,  when  Hood  strolled  over,  probably 
to  see  who  we  were,  and  what  we  were  doing.  I  remember 
now  what  a  splendid  man  he  was  to  look  upon,  every 
inch  a  soldier,  and  withal  most  courteous  and  genial.  I 
suppose  he  satisfied  himself  we  were  decent  men,  though 
I  am  free  to  confess  our  appearance,  and  get  up  generally, 
must  have  been  but  a  poor  recommendation,  for  we  had 
been  looking  round  for  more  than  a  month,  without 
change  of  raiment. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  after  a  few  minutes'  talk  he  pressed 
us  to  come  into  the  fort  to  sup  with  him.  "  We  rough 
it  out  here,  as  you  know,"  he  said,  "  but  at  any  rate,  I 
can  do  you  better  than  that  dried  beef  you're  trying  to 
eat ;  so  come  along,  and  we'll  have  a  game  of  cards  after 
supper."  We  accepted  the  cordial  invitation  willingly 
enough,  and  after  a  supper  which  was  sumptuous  to  us, 
fresh  from  a  diet  of  dried  beef,  biscuit  and  coffee,  played 
euchre  with  him  and  his  officers  till  midnight.  Then, 
after  a  very  friendly  parting,  and  refusing  an  invitation 
to  sleep  in  the  fort,  since  we  must  look  after  our  horses, 
we  went  back  to  our  blankets  and  saddle-pillows. 
Departing  at  sunrise,  we  saw  no  more  of  our  kindly 
host. 

The  next  time  I  met  Hood  was  soon  after  the  war,  when 
he  had  turned  his  sword,  not  into  a  ploughshare,  but  an 
office  ruler,  for  he  was  keeping  store  in  New  Orleans.  He 
was  the  same  genial,  pleasant  fellow,  without  side  or 
swagger,  and  no  one  would  suppose,  from  talking  to  him, 
he  had  ever  done  anything  out  of  the  common.  I  re 
member  his  left  coat-sleeve  was  empty,  the  result  of  one 


214  GENERAL    HOOD 

of  the  many  wounds  he  received  in  the  gallant  charge  at 
Gaines'  Mill. 

On  the  morning  of  June  26,  1862,  General  Lee  com 
menced  his  daring  attack  on  the  strong  position  held  by 
the  Federals,  under  General  McClellan,  on  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  near  Richmond,  the  Confederate  capital.  The 
Federal  general  had  120,000  men  in  line,  and  General 
McDowell  was  hastening  to  join  him  with  40,000  more. 
So  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  for  General  Lee  had 
only  70,000  under  his  command. 

In  that  series  of  combats  lasting  from  June  26  to 
July  1,  and  known  as  "  The  seven  days  under  Richmond," 
and  in  wrhich  Lee  first  revealed  himself  as  a  great  captain, 
two  incidents  stand  out  with  prominence.  The  first, 
General  James  Stuart's  daring  ride  through  the  Federal 
lines,  with  twelve  hundred  men,  when  sent  to  recon 
noitre  the  enemy's  position.  It  was  indeed  a  brilliant 
feat  of  arms  this  young  officer  (he  was  only  thirty)  per 
formed.  For  three  days,  from  the  Thursday  morning 
till  the  Saturday  night,  he  and  his  gallant  men  rode  over 
the  enemy's  position,  and  found  out  his  strength  and 
his  weakness,  with  the  loss  of  only  one  soul,  the  brave 
Captain  Latarie,  shot  dead  the  first  day.  With  this 
single  loss,  he  contrived  to  capture  many  prisoners,  horses 
and  mules,  and  to  destroy  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
stores  and  provisions. 

The  second  notable  incident  was  Hood's  charge  with 
his  Texans,  on  the  evening  of  June  27.  By  the  morning 
of  that  day  Lee  had  driven  back  the  Federals  from 
position  after  position,  and  McClellan  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  withdraw  his  forces  to  the  James  River.  To 
enable  him  to  execute  this  movement  it  was  essential  that 
his  right  position,  where  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  one 
of  his  ablest  divisional  leaders,  commanded,  should  be 
held  at  all  hazards.  It  comprised  a  range  of  precipitous 
wooded  heights,  at  the  foot  of  which  ran  a  boggy  creek, 
beyond  which  was  open  ground  cumbered  by  fallen  trees. 


HE    LEADS   THE    4TH    TEXAS  215 

In  the  brushwood  on  the  slope  lay  hidden  thousands  of 
sharpshooters,  half-way  up  extended  a  stong  force  of 
infantry,  ensconced  behind  a  parapet  of  trunks  of  trees, 
and  behind  this  a  second  parapet  of  the  same  nature, 
also  strongly  held.  Beyond  the  top  of  this  well-guarded 
height,  the  ground  dipped  down  into  a  narrow  ravine, 
and  on  the  summit  of  the  further  slope  was  a  third  line 
of  infantry,  and  a  strong  force  of  artillery. 

General  A.  P,  Hill's  division  had  been  repulsed  from 
the  right  of  this  formidable  position,  and,  to  save  him 
from  destruction,  Lee  ordered  General  Longstreet  to  make 
a  feigned  attack  on  the  left.  But  to  be  of  any  service  to 
Hill,  the  latter  saw  he  must  convert  his  attack  into  a 
real  one,  which  he  most  gallantly  did.  With  terrible  loss 
he  carried  all  the  defences,  up  to  the  top  of  the  first  height ; 
but  his  men  recoiled  from  the  concentrated  infantry  and 
artillery  fire  poured  on  them  from  across  the  ravine,  and 
they  could  make  no  progress. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Hood  and  his  Texan 
Brigade  were  called  upon  for  the  desperate  duty  of  cap 
turing  this  stronghold.  Of  the  four  regiments  composing 
it,  three  had  been  almost  wholly  cut  up  by  the  Federal 
fire,  and  one  remained  in  reserve,  five  hundred  strong. 
It  was  the  4th  Texas  Infantry,  and  at  that  moment  was 
lying  on  the  ground  below  the  crest  of  the  slope,  for 
shelter  from  the  withering  fire. 

Hood  spoke  a  few  words  to  them  as  they  lay,  telling 
them  what  they  had  to  do,  and  that  he  knew  they  were 
the  boys  to  do  it.  Then  he  ordered  them  to  fix  bayonets. 
Up  they  rose  at  his  command,  and  over  the  top  of  the 
rise  and  into  the  ravine  they  went,  that  gallant  five 
hundred,  with  a  cheer  that  was  heard  above  the  din  of 
battle.  The  colonel  fell  immediately ;  but  Hood  was 
leading  his  boys,  and  they  would  follow  to  the  death. 

Through  the  extended  ranks  of  these  heroes  passed  the 
broken  lines  of  the  Third  Brigade,  recoiling  from  the  awful 
fire  from  that  fatal  palisade ;  but,  nothing  daunted,  they 


216  GENERAL    HOOD 

still  held  on  to  what  seemed  certain  destruction.  The 
hail  of  bullets  thinned  their  ranks — Hood  himself  was 
wounded  twice,  one  shot  breaking  his  left  arm — but  on 
they  went  without  pause,  over  the  dead  and  dying. 

Now  the  remnant  of  that  wonderful  five  hundred — I 
don't  know  how  many  there  were,  but  not  much  more 
than  half — were  close  to  the  rampart.  Their  comrades 
watched  with  bated  breath  ;  was  it  possible  they  could 
storm  it  ?  To  such  men,  and  to  such  a  leader,  all  things 
were  possible  ;  but  the  Federals  didn't  wait  to  see,  for, 
terrified  at  the  fierce  attack,  they  rose  up  and  ran.  Helter- 
skelter  after  them  clambered  Hood  and  his  men.  The 
work  was  won,  and  the  Confederate  flag  floated  over  it, 
amidst  the  frantic  cheers  of  the  onlookers. 

I  don't  think  our  own  British  annals  contain  a  more 
gallant  deed  than  this,  and  it  warms  my  heart  now  to 
remember  that  I  have  met  the  man  who  did  it. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE   HORSE-STEALEES 

ALL  that  spring  of  1862  work  on  the  range  was  almost 
incessant,  for  there  was  a  very  good  "  crop  "  of  calves. 
We  were  generally  in  the  saddle  soon  after  daybreak,  and 
by  midday  would  drive  home  from  ten  to  twenty  cows, 
with  their  calves  at  foot.  Then,  after  a  short  dinner- 
hour,  out  again  on  fresh  horses,  returning  before  sun 
down  with  yet  another  bunch.  This  hunting  up  of  cows 
and  calves  sounds,  I  daresay,  easy  enough  work,  but  on 
a  big  cattle-ranch  like  ours,  where  the  cattle  ranged  over 
miles  of  country,  it  was  no  child's  play.  For  the  cows, 
half  wild  as  they  were,  with  the  instinct  of  their  race  hid 
their  calves  in  the  chaparral,  where  it  was  hard  to  find 
them.  But  they  had  to  be  found,  for  success  in  ranching 
depends  on  the  careful  and  thorough  manner  in  which 
this  calf-hunting  is  done.  If  you  don't  look  sharply  after 
them,  the  half  of  your  "  crop  "  will  be  lost,  killed  by 
"  lobos"  or  coyotes,  or  eaten  up  alive  by  maggots. 

The  last  were,  I  think,  the  most  destructive  of  all  our 
enemies,  for  the  blow-flies  were  more  numerous  and 
active  than  any  one  in  this  country  would  credit.  Once 
the  brutes  had  found,  or  established,  a  raw  spot,  be  it 
ever  so  small,  on  a  calf,  or  even  on  a  cow  or  steer,  it  was 
all  up  with  them  if  not  promptly  seen  to  and  dressed 
with  sheep-dip. 

So  we  worked  hard,  but  with  great  success,  for  that 
spring  and  early  summer  we  branded  more  than  a 
thousand  calves  and  young  things. 

The  range  was  unequalled  by  any  I  have  ever  seen, 

217 


218  THE    HORSE-STEALERS 

and  the  prospect  of  success  seemed  assured  ;  the  Indians 
were  the  only  drawback  to  this  rancher's  paradise, 
and  even  these  one  soon  ceased  to  worry  about,  though 
of  course  proper  precautions,  such  as  corralling  the  horses 
at  night,  were  always  taken.  There  was  certainly  a 
fortune  in  the  ranch,  with  anything  like  good  luck  ;  for 
if  the  stock  was  well  looked  after  we  should  be  the  owners, 
in  a  few  years'  time,  of  at  least  ten  thousand  cattle,  and 
these  some  of  the  finest  in  all  the  States  !  And  yet  I 
was  foolish  enough  to  throw  away  this  splendid  chance 
because  I  must  needs  meddle  in  the  quarrel  between 
the  North  and  South,  and  go  a-soldiering  with  the  latter  ! 

About  once  a  month,  at  this  period,  I  rode  into  San 
Antonio,  seventy  miles  of  rather  risky  riding,  to  get  the 
news  of  the  war  ;  for  on  the  Frio  we  heard  nothing,  and 
rarely  saw  a  white  man,  so  far  were  we  from  the  beaten 
track.  The  ups  and  downs  of  the  great  struggle  the 
Confederacy  carried  on  so  bravely,  against  such  fearful 
odds,  were  most  exciting ;  and  more  and  more,  resist  it 
as  I  might,  I  felt  drawn  to  take  my  part  in  it.  And  yet 
for  a  brief  period  longer  I  managed  to  keep  away  from 
it ;  and  mainly  because  of  the  necessity  of  protecting 
our  property  from  the  marauding  Indians. 

On  one  of  these  trips  I  hired  three  more  Mexican 
vaqueros  to  help  in  the  cattle-driving,  making,  with  those 
we  already  had,  eight  in  all ;  and  not  too  many  for  all 
the  work  to  be  done. 

We  managed  the  calves  as  follows  :  When  driven  home 
we  penned  them  in  one  or  other  of  the  corrals  set  apart 
for  them,  and  then  drove  the  cows  out ;  no  easy  matter 
sometimes.  Night  and  morning  the  cows  returned  to 
suckle  the  youngsters,  and  then  were  turned  out  again. 
It  was  quite  a  sight  to  see  hundreds  of  these  anxious 
mothers  waiting  round  the  corrals  to  be  let  in.  And 
the  row  they  made  with  their  lowing  was  astonishing  ! 
But  at  night  the  din  was  even  greater  ;  for  to  the  lowing 
of  the  cows  was  added  the  bellowing  of  the  bulls  and 


NOISES    MAKE    NIGHT    HIDEOUS          219 

the  squealing  of  the  stallions.  Round  the  corrals  were 
placed  big  logs  of  wood,  in  which  holes  were  bored  with 
a  2-inch  auger  to  hold  salt  for  the  stock  to  lick.  To 
these  came  the  bulls  with  their  cows,  and  the  stallions 
with  their  "  mafiadas  "  of  mares,  but  always  at  night  ; 
and  the  noise  of  their  battles,  the  howling  of  the  great 
"  lobos"  and  the  barking  of  the  coyotes,  that  followed 
the  stock  for  a  chance  victim,  answered  vociferously 
by  all  our  dogs,  made  night  hideous  indeed  !  But  a  long 
day  in  the  saddle  was  an  excellent  soporific  and,  after  a 
bit,  one  could  generally  contrive  to  sleep  through  it  all. 

Whilst  cattle-driving  we  often  came  across  big  bunches 
of  mustangs,  but  seldom  went  after  them,  for  unless  you 
have  a  very  strong  party  and  the  best  of  horses,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  run  them  down.  Though  the  hardest, 
toughest  little  brutes  in  the  world,  they  are  very  trouble 
some  to  "  gentle,"  and  never  are  what  one  would  call 
comfortable  mounts ;  in  fact  they  are  more  bother  than 
they  are  worth. 

But  on  one  of  our  drives  on  the  Leona  River,  one  of  the 
Mexicans  sighted  afar  off  a  big  bunch  that  had  some 
stray  horses  running  wild  with  it.  So,  with  two  of  my 
best  mounted  men,  I  started  to  run  the  mustangs  in 
the  hope  of  cutting  out  the  horses.  For  five  good  miles 
we  galloped  as  hard  as  we  could  go,  and  then  one  of  the 
"  strays,"  which  turned  out  to  be  a  Spanish  mare  in 
foal,  tailed  off.  Leaving  one  vaquero  behind  to  rope  her, 
I  went  on  after  the  bunch  with  the  other,  and  eventually 
cut  out  both  the  other  horses  and  roped  them  too.  I 
was  short  of  "  cow-horses,"  so  this  was  a  stroke  of  luck  ; 
and  I  returned  to  the  ranch,  after  a  week's  camping  out, 
in  high  feather,  with  my  three  horses  and  150  head 
of  cattle.  These  "  strays  "  had  Mexican  brands  on  them, 
so  they  had  come  from  over  the  river,  or  I  should  have 
had  to  hand  them  over  to  their  owners. 

On  another  occasion  that  same  spring,  low  down  on 
the  Frio,  my  Mexicans  and  I  came  on  a  large  bunch  of 


220  THE    HORSE-STEALERS 

mustangs,  with  many  foals  in  it.  Having  no  cattle  under 
herd  at  the  time,  I  determined  to  run  it,  and  cut  out 
some  of  the  youngsters.  The  mustangs  were  quite  a 
mile  ahead  of  us,  and  the  moment  they  sighted  us  went 
off  at  a  tremendous  pace.  I  knew  the  foals  couldn't 
stand  that  long,  so  pressed  on  after  the  bunch  as  hard 
as  I  could.  One  by  one  the  little  fellows  dropped  out 
till,  after  we  had  run  the  mafiada  for  about  eight  or  nine 
miles,  we  had  left  a  good  many  foals  behind  us.  Then, 
as  it  was  getting  dusk,  we  took  the  back  trail,  and  picked 
up  six  of  the  youngsters  without  much  trouble  ;  for  their 
friends  and  maternal  relatives  having  long  since  disap 
peared,  they  seemed  only  too  glad  to  follow  our  horses. 

Next  day  I  got  them  home  to  the  ranch  and  shut  them 
in  a  calf -pen,  where  they  very  soon  learned  to  drink 
cows'  milk  out  of  buckets,  and  throve  mightily  thereon. 
In  a  short  time  they  were  the  cheekiest,  most  mischievous, 
and  most  amusing  party  on  the  ranch.  Five  of  them 
lived  to  make  very  good  cow-horses  ;  for  they  could 
carry  a  Mexican  cow-hunting  all  day,  and  every  day, 
though  only  little  rats  of  things  to  look  at,  not  more 
than  about  twelve  hands  high. 

About  this  time  a  young  fellow  named  Jack  Vinton 
came  out  to  us  from  San  Antonio,  where  he  was  loafing 
about  and  doing  no  good.  His  father,  Colonel  Vinton, 
was  a  West  Point  man,  and  had  been  in  command  of  the 
U.S.  troops  in  Texas  prior  to  General  Twig  of  sur 
render  fame.  The  youngster  was  rather  a  lively  youth ; 
he  was  only  nineteen,  and  had,  I  fancy,  given  his  father 
some  trouble.  The  Colonel,  with  whom  I  was  very 
friendly,  therefore  asked  me  to  give  an  eye  to  him,  when 
he  himself  left  San  Antonio  for  the  North,  on  the  eve 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  In  that,  being  a  Northern 
man,  he  served  on  the  Federal  side  with  some  distinction, 
rising,  if  I  remember  right,  to  be  Adjutant-General  to 
the  Forces.  So  Master  Jack  came  out  to  us,  and 
made  himself  useful  on  the  ranch,  which  was  the  very 


OOMANCHE    TACTICS  221 

place  for  him  ;    for  he  was  as  hard  as  nails,  a  first-rate 
cowboy,  and  not  afraid  of  Indians,  or  anything  else. 

Just  then  we  were  kept  pretty  well  on  the  qui  vive 
by  these  gentry,  plenty  of  their  sign  being  seen  about 
the  range,  and  Jack  was  a  very  desirable  addition  to  our 
little  party.  We  had  by  this  time  a  strong  party  of 
"  Greasers,"  but  these  Mexicans  are  no  good  for  Indian 
fighting.  If  they  are  cornered  and  can't  get  away,  they 
will  fight ;  but  if  there  is  a  chance  to  run,  they  take  it 
like  a  shot. 

As  a  rule,  the  Comanches  never  showed  themselves 
near  the  ranches  in  early  spring  ;  but  as  the  season 
advanced,  and  the  leaves  thickened,  they  began  to  get 
to  work.  Lying  hidden  in  the  dense  chaparral,  in 
parties  of  twos  and  threes,  they  gradually  collected 
together  what  horses  they  could  pick  up  on  the  ranges. 
During  that  time  one  might  pass  close  to  them  and, 
though  quite  alone,  not  be  attacked.  But  when  they  had 
got  together  a  good  lot  of  horses,  they  were  ready  for 
serious  business,  and  started  in  to  kill  and  scalp  all 
they  could  come  across  ;  the  worst  time  being  usually 
before  the  full  of  the  moon. 

I  could  fill  mai.-y  pages  with  accounts  of  their  murderous 
doings,  for  in  those  days  they  had  the  whole  frontier  of 
three  or  four  hundred  miles  at  their  mercy  But  it  would 
only  weary  the  reader  with  the  dull  monotony  of  blood 
shed  :  here  and  there  solitary  cow-hunters  killed,  scalped, 
and  mutilated,  or  defenceless  women  and  children 
massacred  in  some  lonely  ranch.  Indeed,  for  the  time 
being,  the  wretches  had  things  pretty  much  their  own 
way  ;  but  by  and  by  it  was  our  turn,  and  I  shall  be  able 
to  tell  how  we  now  and  then  took  it  out  of  our  friends 
the  Comanches  and  the  Lepans. 

At  this  time  too  we  were  a  good  deal  bothered  by  the 
frontier  Mexicans  from  the  State  of  Nuevo  Leon,  who 
crossed  the  Rio  Grande  into  Texas  to  steal  horses.  As 
most  of  these  gentry  had  been  vaqueros  on  the  cattle- 


222  THE    HORSE-STEALERS 

ranches,  they  knew  the  country  thoroughly,  and  where 
to  lay  their  hands  on  what  they  wanted,  so  that  it  was 
most  difficult  to  catch  them,  and  in  most  cases  they  got 
clear  off  with  their  plunder.  When  caught,  they  of  course 
"  looked  up  "  the  nearest  convenient  tree. 

Here  is  a  story  of  their  doings,  and  of  the  summary 
justice  meted  out  to  a  small  party  of  these  thieves  we 
by  good  luck  managed  to  catch. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  May  that  one  of  our  Mexicans 
told  me  a  party  of  his  compatriots  had  come  in  to  steal 
my  horses,  and  those  on  a  big  ranch  on  the  Hondo,  some 
thirty  miles  away,  belonging  to  Pete  Burleson.  I  promptly 
sent  a  note  to  Burleson,  to  let  him  know  what  was  up, 
and  to  ask  him  to  keep  a  look-out  for  any  sign  of  the 
thieving  Mexicans,  so  that  we  might  know  where  they 
were  making  for,  if  they  had  been  about  his  place.  That 
same  night  my  Mexican  brought  a  note  from  Pete, 
saying  he  had  found  "  sign  "  of  a  bunch  of  horses  being 
fresh  driven  for  the  Rio  Grande,  and  that  the  trail  pointed 
for  the  San  Felipe  crossing  ;  that  he,  with  three  or  four 
more,  would  meet  me  next  day  on  the  Carisa  Creek,  near 
the  "  old  Presidio  crossing,"  where  he  would  camp. 

By  daybreak  next  morning  Jack  Vinton,  two  of  my 
best  Mexicans,  and  I  started  and,  picking  up  two  fellows, 
named  Bennett  and  English,  on  the  Leona,  made  Burle 
son 's  camp  on  the  Carisa  before  sundown.  Our  two 
parties  made  up  eleven,  all  told.  As  soon  as  it  was 
light  enough  next  morning,  we  saddled  up  and,  with 
Jack  Bennett,  a  capital  trailer,  leading,  soon  hit  the 
trail,  which,  sure  enough  as  Pete  had  surmised,  led  towards 
the  San  Felipe  crossing.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost, 
if  we  were  not  to  have  our  trouble  for  nothing,  and  we 
"  loped  "on  it  as  fast  as  we  could  go.  Bennett  declared 
the  trail  was  so  fresh  the  thieves  couldn't  be  far  ahead 
of  us  ;  but  on  we  went,  mile  after  mile,  and  still  they  were 
in  front  of  us. 

We  had  ridden  a  good  thirty  miles,  and  twilight  was 


PUT    TO    THE    VOTE  223 

deepening  into  dusk  when,  topping  a  ridge  on  the  prairie, 
we  came  right  on  our  quarry,  camped  in  a  "  mott  "  near 
a  .water-hole  about  four  miles  only  from  the  river.  One 
of  the  thieves  was  mounted,  and  was  herding  the  stolen 
horses  ;  the  rest  had  off-saddled  and,  believing  them 
selves  quite  secure  from  pursuit,  were  cooking  supper. 
The  mounted  man  bolted  the  moment  he  caught  sight 
of  us,  and  got  clear  off,  though  two  of  our  boys  hunted 
him  right  up  to  the  river's  bank.  The  others — there  were 
four  of  them — were  surrounded  in  the  "  mott  "  before 
they  knew  what  was  up,  and  they  at  once  surrendered, 
rather  than  be  shot  there  and  then. 

Pinioning  them  securely,  we  set  a  guard  over  them, 
and  then  gathered  the  stolen  horses,  twenty  in  number, 
six  of  which  bore  my  own  brand.  As  it  was  now  nearly 
dark,  my  Mexicans  were  set  to  herd  the  horses,  whilst 
we  cooked  supper  and  fixed  camp.  The  fate  of  the 
prisoners  was  reserved  till  next  morning,  when  it  would 
be  decided,  as  usual,  by  the  vote  of  the  majority  of  the 
party.  This  voting,  I  may  say,  was  a  mere  formality, 
for  in  such  a  flagrant  case  as  this,  hanging  was  inevitable. 

After  breakfast  the  next  morning  we  stepped  aside 
a  few  paces  from  the  camp,  and  Pete  Burleson,  as  the 
senior  present,  put  the  question  to  each  individual. 
"  What  shall  we  do  with  the  prisoners  ?  "  Now,  no 
doubt,  these  thieves  deserved  hanging,  if  horse-thieves 
were  ever  to  be  hanged  ;  for  all  of  them  had  recently 
been  employed  on  the  ranches  they  had  robbed,  except 
mine  ;  but  there  was  always  something  horribly  cold 
blooded  and  cruel  to  my  mind  in  this  hanging,  and  I  am 
glad  to  think  that  I  never  did  vote  for  that  punishment, 
in  all  my  Western  experiences.  In  this  case  I  voted  for 
flogging  the  prisoners,  and  turning  them  loose  on  the 
prairie,  and  my  Mexicans  voted  with  me.  But  of  course 
we  were  in  a  minority  of  three,  and  the  majority  of 
eight  went  for  hanging. 

When  told  the  decision,  the  miserable  wretches  took  it 


224  THE    HORSE-STEALERS 

quite  calmly,  all  but  one,  Carildo  by  name,  and  he  had 
served  one  of  our  party,  Jack  Bowles,  as  vaquero.  He  had 
evidently  no  hope  of  mercy,  and  did  not  beg  for  life, 
only  that  his  old  master  would  shoot  him,  and  so  save 
him  from  hanging.  So  he  was  shot,  and  the  other 
three  were  hanged  on  live-oak  trees  hard  by  the  camp  ; 
and  then  we  set  off  home  writh  the  recovered  horses, 
most  of  us  in  high  spirits  at  our  successful  catch.  It 
was  necessary  to  teach  these  "  Greasers "  that  the 
ways  of  horse-thieves  are  hard,  but  I  confess  the  live- 
oaks,  and  their  horrible  dangling  burdens,  haunted  me, 
so  that  I  felt  sorry  I  had  been  at  the  catching  of  them  ; 
which  was  perhaps  foolish,  not  to  say  weak. 

At  the  end  of  this  month  of  May  1862,  two  of  my 
neighbour  ranchers,  Louis  Oje  and  Mont  Woodward, 
who  had  big  cattle-ranches  on  the  frontier,  about  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  miles  away  from  us,  made  up  a  party, 
with  myself,  to  hunt  stray  cattle  in  the  forks  of  the 
Nueces.  We  took  eight  vaqueros  and  plenty  of  spare 
horses,  and,  making  our  headquarters  in  a  dilapidated 
mustanger's  hut,  with  corrals  near  by,  handy  for  penning 
the  cattle,  spent  a  week  there,  doing  some  good  driving. 
At  night  we  sat  round  the  camp  fire  smoking  and  yarning, 
but  most  of  our  talk  was  of  the  war,  and  of  the  terrible 
hardships  of  the  Confederate  troops,  especially  under 
Stonewall  Jackson. 

We  were  all  experienced  frontiersmen,  owning  big 
ranches  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian  country,  and  were 
inured  to  hard  knocks  and  a  rough  life.  It  might  be 
thought  we  had  enough  to  do  to  hold  our  own  against 
the  Comanches  and  Lepans,  who  would  give  us  as  much 
fighting  as  we  could  want,  and  who  would  probably 
harry  our  stock  if  we  went  off  to  the  war.  These  con 
siderations,  in  our  earlier  talks,  made  us  reluctantly 
agree  that  we  could  not  leave,  at  any  rate  not  till  things 
were  more  settled  on  the  frontier  ;  though  how  they 
could  ever  be  so,  whilst  the  war  lasted,  was  difficult  to 


MONT    WOODWARD    SPEAKS  225 

see.  But  still,  night  after  night  we  went  back  to  the 
same  subject,  for  our  heads  were  full  of  it,  and  we  could 
talk  of  nothing  else. 

At  that  time  McClellan  was  invading  Virginia,  by  way 
of  the  peninsula,  and  threatening  Richmond,  the  capital 
of  the  State  and  of  the  Confederacy.  The  Federal  com 
mander  was  said  to  have  more  than  150,000  men  under 
him  in  the  vicinity  of  our  capital  ;  whilst  McDowell 
Fremont,  Franklin,  and  other  division  leaders  of  the 
North  were  hastening  to  reinforce  him  with  60,000  or 
70,000  more.  To  oppose  this  terrible  array  of  armies, 
thoroughly  equipped  and  armed,  with  all  the  resources 
of  the  Northern  States  behind  them,  Generals  Sidney 
Johnston,  Lee,  and  Jackson  had  no  more  than  70,000  ill- 
clad,  half -starved  men.  A  ragged  crew  to  look  upon, 
these  ;  but  for  all  that  the  best  fighting  men  of  the 
South,  and,  under  such  leaders  as  Lee  and  Stonewall 
Jackson,  all  but  invincible.  The  tale  of  their  doings 
set  our  hearts  on  fire,  for  we  were  all  ardent  Southerners, 
and  it  was  a  tale  to  inflame  the  coldest  blood.  Yet  we 
couldn't  go  and  do  our  share,  and  take  our  part  for  the 
cause  we  believed  in,  and  which  so  sorely  needed  every 
man  who  could  carry  a  rifle.  We  had  made  up  our 
minds,  and  so  an  end  of  it.  This  lasted  for  a  day  or  two, 
and  talk  languished  over  the  camp  fire,  till  we  fell  moody 
and  silent.  The  last  night  had  come,  our  trip  was  over, 
and  the  next  day  we  should  drive  our  captured  cattle 
home  to  our  ranches,  brand  calves,  fight  Indians,  hunt 
horse-stealing  Mexicans,  and  leave  our  friends  and  foes 
to  battle  it  out  in  Virginia.  It  seemed  a  tame  conclusion 
to  arrive  at.  But  what  would  you  ?  We  couldn't  help  it. 

The  last  pipe  was  smoked  for  the  night,  and  the  blankets 
were  spread.  We  were  going  to  turn  in,  when  Mont 
Woodward,  who  hadn't  spoken  a  word  for  an  hour, 
rose,  stretched  himself  on  his  long  legs,  and  opened  his 
mouth  to  some  purpose.  "Blame  me,  boys,  I  can't 
stand  to  think  of  it  any  more.  The  cattle  may  go  to 

15 


226  THE    HORSE-STEALERS 

h ,  or  the  cussed  Injuns  may  eat  'em  for  all  I  care. 

•I'm  goin'  to  'list  right  off.     Soon's  these  beef  are  at  the 
ranch,  I  make  tracks  for  San  Antonio  right  away." 

Mont  had  solved  the  problem  for  us.  Louis  and  I 
jumped  to  our  feet  together.  "  We'll  go  too,  Mont," 
we  said  in  one  breath.  And  that  is  how  I  became  a 
Confederate  soldier. 

When  I  told  Thompson  my  resolve,  he  tried  hard  to 
dissuade  me  from  it ;  but  seeing  my  mind  was  made  up, 
said  he  would  do  his  best  in  my  absence,  if  go  I  must. 
He  was  getting  to  be  quite  the  vaquero  himself,  and, 
having  young  Vinton,  with  a  good  lot  of  Mexicans,  to 
help  him,  I  felt  fairly  easy  in  my  mind  at  leaving  him. 

As  to  the  Indians,  I  knew  the  old  fellow  wouldn't  run 
any  unnecessary  risks,  and  wouldn't  go  far  from  the 
ranch  by  himself. 

So  in  the  last  days  of  May  I  set  off  for  San  Antonio, 
where  I  was  to  meet  Oje  and  Woodward,  for  we  had 
made  up  our  minds  to  enlist  in  the  same  corps  and  serve 
together.  Sure  enough  they  rode  in  together,  the  same 
evening  of  my  arrival.  We  learned  that  a  man  named 
Duff,  of  the  firm  of  Duff  &  McCarthy,  contractors  and 
merchants,  was  raising  a  company  of  Partisan  Rangers  for 
the  service,  and  that,  we  thought,  was  just  the  corps  for  us. 

The  partners  were  both  well  known  to  me,  for  they  were 
my  agents  and  "  merchants,"  through  whom  I  transacted 
all  my  business.  So  next  morning  we  three  walked  over 
to  their  office  and  I,  being  a  valued  client,  was  promptly 
ushered  into  the  sanctum.  When  I  told  my  errand,  and 
that  I  had  brought  two  more  recruits  of  just  the  sort  to 
suit  him,  Duff  said  he  would  be  very  glad  to  have  us, 
for  he  wanted  men  badly,  if  we  had  made  up  our  minds  ; 
though,  if  he  were  in  our  position,  with  our  property 
and  cattle  on  that  dangerous  frontier,  it  would  take 
a  good  deal  to  induce  him  to  enlist.  The  end  of  it  was 
we  were  sworn  in  there  and  then,  and  became  Partisan 
Rangers  in  Duff's  company. 


BOOK    IV 
IN  THE  CONFEDERATE  SERVICE 


227 


CHAPTER    I 
ON  THE  BUSHWHACKERS'  TRACK 

VERY  pleased  was  I  that,  at  last,  I  was  enlisted  to  fight 
under  the  banner  of  the  Confederacy,  and  my  one  desire 
was  to  go  to  the  front,  where,  in  Virginia,  Lee  and  Stone 
wall  Jackson  and  the  rest  of  our  gallant  leaders,  were 
fighting  their  heroic  battles  against  such  desperate  odds. 

I  make  no  boast  of  this.  Why  should  I  ?  I  enlisted 
of  my  own  free  will,  and  against  my  own  interests, 
which  should  have  led  me  to  stay  at  home  to  protect  my 
property ;  and  my  object  was  to  strike  a  blow  for  the 
noble  cause  I  had  at  heart.  As  to  that  cause,  I  did 
not  then  doubt  that  it  was  a  sacred  one,  and  that  the 
Southern  States  were  justified  in  resisting  to  the  death 
the  oppression  of  the  North.  But  as  to  the  representa 
tives  of  that  noble  cause  in  Texas — the  local  nobodies 
who  ruled  the  roast,  and  exploited  us  for  their  own  base 
and  selfish  ends — I  was  very  speedily  disillusioned. 

In  times  of  convulsion  and  strife,  great  leaders,  of 
the  purest  patriotism,  are  thrown  up  to  guide  and  direct 
affairs  at  the  centre  of  the  movement,  if  there  is  any 
vitality  in  it,  any  great  principle  for  which  a  nation  is 
struggling.  But  in  the  outlying  districts,  the  extre 
mities  of  the  body  politic,  the  pulse  of  patriotism  seems 
to  beat  but  feebly.  There  the  scum  of  the  population 
rises  to  the  surface,  and  there  corruption  and  self- 
seeking  are  rife. 

This  generalisation  may  appear  a  sweeping  one  ;  but 
I  think  it  is  borne  out  by  history,  to  take  only  what 
happened  in  the  Franco-German  War,  our  War  of 


230      ON    THE    BUSHWHACKERS'    TRACK 

Secession,  and  the  late  Boer  War.  At  any  rate  it 
was  absolutely  true  as  regards  Texas,  and  the  out 
laying  States  of  the  Confederacy.  For  there  loud- 
tongued  local  nobodies  talked  themselves  into  power 
and  position,  and  used  them  to  rob  their  suffering 
country,  and  to  defraud  the  soldiers  fighting  her 
battles.  And  of  all  these  harpies,  none  were  worse 
than  my  friend,  and  immediate  commanding  officer, 
Captain  Dunn — that  is,  be  it  understood,  in  his  own 
small  way.  His  opportunities  for  peculation  were 
never  very  great,  but  such  as  they  were  he,  I  am  bound 
to  say,  made  the  most  of  them. 

Instead  of  going  to  the  front,  I  was  kept  hanging  about 
in  Texas  month  after  month,  sent  here  and  there  to 
arrest  supposed  Unionists,  or  to  hunt  down  imaginary 
express  riders  carrying  mails  which  only  existed  in  the 
fuddled  brains  of  our  leaders — fools'  errands,  on  which 
I  and  my  comrades  rode  many  and  many  a  weary  mile, 
knowing  only  too  well  the  real  nature  of  them.  And  all 
this  time  I  was  in  the  toils  of  this  villain  Dunn,  and  couldn't 
escape  by  any  honourable  road,  for  I  had  enlisted  for 
three  years,  or  for  the  war.  I  could  have  got  away  by 
malingering,  as  many  men  did,  and  making  it  worth 
our  Captain's  while  to  connive  at  it,  but  this  I  could 
not  do.  So  I  served  on  under  him,  and  found  him  to  be 
not  only  the  scheming  rascal  so  many  were,  but  as 
cowardly,  cold-blooded  a  murderer  as  I  had  ever  met 
even  in  the  roaring  days  of  the  Kansas  "  War." 

I  don't  purpose  to  tell  in  detail  the  story  of  my  service 
in  the  State  with  the  Partizan  Rangers  ;  that  would 
be  wearisome  and  monotonous.  But  a  few  incidents 
must  be  given,  to  bear  out  what  I  have  said  ;  and  one 
in  particular,  at  the  remembrance  of  which  I  shudder 
still,  shall  be  described  at  some  length,  shameful  as  it  is. 

Now  to  my  story. 

Directly  we  three  were  sworn  in  we  were  sent  to  join 
our  camp  about  two  miles  out  of  San  Antonio,  where  our 


THE  AUTHOR  IN  RANGER  UNIFORM 

Photographed  at  San  Antonio,  18G3 


P.  <r,i> 


A    WILD-GOOSE    CHASE  231 

horses  were  valued  by  the  Commandant,  and  paid  for 
in  Confederate  notes.  For  already,  even  at  this  period 
of  the  war,  there  was  no  cash  in  the  country  ;  every 
thing  was  paid  in  notes,  at  an  ever-increasing  discount. 
Even  these  notes,  after  a  time,  became  scarce,  and  then 
every  one — merchants,  storekeepers,  down  to  the  very 
barbers — issued  promissory  notes  of  their  own,  wherewith 
to  pay  their  debts.  Perhaps  not  quite  a  "  new  way  to 
pay  old  debts,"  but  a  very  bad  one,  for  it  led,  naturally 
enough,  to  any  amount  of  fraud  and  swindling,  not  to 
mention  forgery. 

For  ten  days  we  were  kept  hard  at  work  drilling,  but 
unfortunately  under  instructors  who  knew  but  little 
more  of  the  mysteries  of  the  science  than  we  did  ourselves  ; 
so  I  fear  we  were  not  very  proficient  at  the  end  of  that 
brief  period.  For  all  that  we  were  a  useful  body  of 
irregular  cavalry,  for  the  most  part  hardbitten  frontiers 
men  who  would  give  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  any 
fighting  for  which  they  were  adapted.  All  the  more 
shame  to  waste  their  services,  fooling  about  in  Texas, 
as  the  authorities  did.  At  the  end  of  this  time  I  was 
sent  off  with  two  others,  at  a  moment's  notice,  in  pursuit 
of  a  man  supposed  to  be  carrying  despatches  from  some 
of  the  disaffected  Texans,  into  Mexico.  Some  one 
dreamed  this  phantom  express  had  passed  through 
Castroville  on  his  way  to  the  frontier,  and  we  were  to 
catch  him  somewhere  before  he  got  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

That  day  we  rode  fifty  miles,  neither  at  Castroville, 
nor  at  any  of  the  neighbouring  ranches,  getting  any 
tidings  of  the  fugitive.  All  next  day  we  pursued  our 
imaginary  quest,  with  the  same  result  :  no  one  knew, 
no  one  had  heard  of  such  a  man  as  we  were  after.  So 
the  third  day  we  returned  to  Castroville  and,  on  the 
evening  of  the  fourth,  to  San  Antonio,  where  we  learned 
that  our  company  had  that  morning  marched  for  Fried- 
ricksburg,  a  town  some  eighty  miles  to  the  north,  there 
to  proclaim  martial  law  in  that  county. 


232       ON    THE    BUSHWHACKERS'    TRACK 

Two  hours  we  rested,  and  then  set  off  to  overtake  the 
company  :  rode  on  till  1  a.m.,  then  off-saddled  and  lay 
down  on  our  blankets  for  a  couple  of  hours'  sleep.  Start 
ing  again  at  3  a.m.  we  came  up  with  the  company  just 
as  it  was  breaking  camp  for  the  second  day's  march. 
That  night  we  camped  within  eighteen  miles  of  Fried- 
ricksburg ;  and  I  confess  I  was  fairly  done  up,  for  I  had 
been  in  the  saddle  for  best  part  of  five  days  and  nights. 

Friedricksburg  was  a  town  of  about  800  inhabitants, 
almost  all  of  them  Germans,  and  Unionists  to  a  man. 
The  object  of  our  expedition  was  to  compel  these  people 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  Govern 
ment,  which  most  of  them  did,  though  some  cleared  out 
and  took  to  the  mountains  rather  than  perjure  them 
selves. 

After  three  days'  halt  in  this  town  forty  of  us,  of  whom 
I  was  one,  were  detailed  to  march  to  camp  Verde,  forty 
miles  distant,  to  overawe,  or  convert  into  Southerners, 
more  Germans  of  Northern  proclivities. 

From  this  camp  two  Rangers  and  myself  were  sent 
out  to  arrest  about  a  dozen  supposed  disloyalists,  in 
various  parts  of  Medina  County.  Two  days  we  were  on 
this  hateful  duty,  during  which  we  arrested  about  ten 
unfortunate  wretches  and  took  them  into  San  Antonio, 
where  the  rest  of  our  party  had  already  arrived. 

Three  days  we  rested  there,  and  then  set  off  to  rejoin 
the  company,  which  presently  we  found  had  marched 
away  from  Friedricksburg  and  was  meandering  about 
the  State,  doing  goodness  knows  what — certainly  no 
earthly  good.  We  found  it  at  a  place  called  Blanco, 
whence  we  all  marched  back  to  San  Antonio  and  went 
into  camp  again,  after  three  weeks'  absence  on  this  war 
like  expedition,  during  which  all  we  had  done  was  to 
bully  a  few  inoffensive  Germans. 

Next,  on  June  26,  five  of  us  were  started  off  to 
catch  seven  armed  niggers,  supposed  to  be  driving  stolen 
horses  into  Mexico,  and  who  had  last  been  seen  about 


FOOLS'    ERRANDS  233 

twenty-five  miles  from  camp.  I  knew  the  thing  was  a 
humbug,  but  orders  had  to  be  obeyed.  Three  days  we 
followed  that  will-o'-the-wisp,  and  then  discovered  the 
seven  niggers  had  dwindled  to  two,  and  they  were  driving 
their  master's  horses  ! 

In  the  early  days  of  July  a  man  came  into  camp  and 
reported  he  had  seen  tracks  of  some  shod  mules  near 
the  Frio  River,  leading  in  the  direction  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  that  he  had  been  told  by  some  old  donkey,  on  a 
ranch  near  by,  that  he  often  saw  tracks  he  couldn't 
account  for.  Our  sapient  commandant  at  once  jumped 
to  the  conclusion  that  secret  communication,  and  of 
course  treasonable,  was  going  on  with  Mexico.  I  told 
him  the  Presidio  road,  to  which  the  tracks  pointed,  was 
the  last  one  a  spy  would  use  ;  but  he  wouldn't  listen, 
and  five  of  us,  including  myself,  were  dispatched  at  a 
moment's  notice  on  another  fool's  errand.  Eight  days' 
hard  riding  we  had  on  this  little  trip,  in  pouring  rain 
most  of  the  time,  during  which  we  covered  some  two 
hundred  miles — of  course,  all  for  naught  !  The  night 
we  returned  to  camp,  pretty  well  done  up,  and  our 
horses  dead  beaten,  we  were  warned  to  be  in  readiness 
for  a  review  of  all  the  troops  in  camp  by  General 
Herbert,  in  command  of  the  district,  who  was  to  inspect 
us  next  day. 

At  4  p.m.  then  we  were  all  formed  up  in  the  Alamo 
Plaza  in  San  Antonio,  the  force  comprising  four 
infantry  companies  and  two  of  Partizan  Rangers. 
The  infantry  were  rather  a  mixed-looking  lot,  dressed 
in  all  sorts  and  varieties  of  uniforms,  or  none  at  all. 
The  Rangers,  though  in  much  the  same  plight  as  to 
uniforms,  were  really  a  fine,  soldierly  lot  of  men,  for  the 
most  part  mounted  on  good  horses.  There  were  some 
queer  specimens  of  humanity  on  parade  that  day,  but 
the  queerest  of  all  was  our  own  Commander,  who  on 
foot  resembled  a  bullfrog,  and  on  horseback  Sancho 
Panza, 


234       ON    THE    BUSHWHACKERS'    TRACK 

We  formed  up  in  double  line,  cavalry  in  front,  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  Plaza  a  wheezy  civilian  brass  band 
discoursed  such  music  as  it  could.  Then  presently 
appeared  our  gallant  General,  surrounded  by  a  hetero 
geneous  staff,  as  ignorant  and  pretentious  as  himself, 
and  followed  by  a  small  boy  on  a  diminutive  cow-pony, 
who  acted  as  his  orderly.  The  chief  duty  of  the  staff, 
aided  by  the  small  boy,  seemed  to  be  to  keep  back  a 
crowd  of  about  three  hundred  people,  who  lined  the 
square  and  wanted  to  fraternise  with  their  friends  in  the 
ranks  whilst  the  performance  was  going  on !  This  was 
soon  over,  for  when  the  General  had  ridden  down  the 
ranks,  looking  as  wise  as  he  knew  how,  we  marched  past 
him  once,  with  some  difficulty,  and  then  were  dismissed. 
The  whole  thing  was  a  farce,  and  I  was  thoroughly 
disgusted  with  the  humbug  of  it ;  for  the  so- 
called  General  knew  no  more  about  soldiering  than 
his  boy  orderly,  and  indeed  was  a  storekeeper  who 
probably  had  never  seen  a  shot  fired  in  anger  in  his 
life,  but  had  been  promoted  by  some  back-door  in 
fluence. 

At  this  time  the  remnants  of  Sibley's  Texan  Brigade 
began  to  straggle  back  from  New  Mexico  in  woful  plight. 
It  was  in  the  end  of  October  in  the  previous  year  that  it 
had  marched  out,  three  thousand  strong,  the  flower  of 
Texan  youth,  with  high  hopes  of  victory  ;  and  now  it 
was  a  broken,  disorganised  rabble,  ragged  and  half 
starved.  The  horses  had  nearly  all  died,  and  such  of 
the  men  as  returned  had  tramped  hundreds  of  miles 
with  scarce  a  whole  boot  amongst  them.  The  whole 
business  had  been  shamefully  mismanaged  by  General 
Sibley,  who  was  absolutely  incompetent,  and  yet  was 
entrusted  with  a  command  like  this  ! 

Perhaps  the  most  astonishing  thing  in  the  whole  affair 
was  that  Sibley  was  not  brought  to  a  court-martial, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  was  promoted,  and  held  in 
high  honour  by  the  rascals  who  ruled  us  in  Texas. 


OUR    PROVOST-MARSHAL  235 

Small  wonder  that  the  Confederate  cause  fared  so  ill  in 
the  Southern  and  Western  States,  with  such  people  at 
its  head  ! 

On  July  19  the  two  companies  of  Partizan  Rangers, 
our  own  under  Dunn  and  the  other  under  Captain 
Freer,  marched  out  once  more  for  Friedricksburg,  in 
the  vicinity  of  which  it  was  reported  that  1,500 
"  Bushwhackers,"  mostly  Germans,  had  taken  to  the 
mountains,  and  were  plundering  and  burning  the  ranches 
of  the  Southern  loyalists.  Furthermore,  they  were  said 
to  be  well  armed,  and  intended  fighting  their  way 
northwards  to  join  the  Federal  forces.  Those  who,  like 
myself,  knew  the  country  and  the  people,  didn't  believe 
one-tenth  part  of  this  yarn,  but  our  leaders  swallowed  it 
whole,  or  professed  to,  and  made  great  preparations  to 
put  down  this  formidable  insurrection. 

Amongst  other  steps  to  this  end,  our  redoubtable 
Captain  Dunn  was  appointed  Provost-Marshal,  with  full 
powers  to  deal  with  the  rebels.  These,  the  sequel  will 
show,  he  exercised  to  their  fullest  extent,  committing 
atrocities  that  even  his  superiors  in  San  Antonio  would 
not  have  sanctioned. 

We  marched  by  easy  stages  to  Friedricksburg,  and 
there  found  most  of  the  inhabitants  remaining  quietly 
in  their  homes,  though  a  certain  number  of  misguided 
men  had  taken  to  the  mountains,  en  route  to  join  one 
of  the  Federal  armies.  Their  numbers  were  variously 
estimated,  but,  as  far  as  I  could  make  out,  they  did  not 
exceed  a  couple  of  hundred. 

The  morning  after  our  arrival  we  marched  out  fifteen 
miles  to  the  west  of  the  town  and  pitched  camp  on  a 
stream  called  the  Pedernalio,  with  the  intention  of  re 
maining  there  about  six  weeks.  Here  Captain  Dunn 
issued  his  proclamation  announcing  his  appointment 
as  Provost-Marshal,  and  giving  the  inhabitants  three 
days  to  come  in  and  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Confederacy  ;  threatening  to  treat  all  those  who  failed 


236       ON    THE    BUSHWHACKERS'    TRACK 

to  do  so  as  traitors,  who  would  be  dealt  with  summarily 
at  the  discretion  of  the  officer  commanding. 

Meanwhile  we  remained  in  camp  enjoying  the  rest 
and  the  beautiful  scenery.  The  spot  we  had  chosen  was 
an  ideal  one  :  a  gentle  slope,  dotted  with  majestic  live- 
oak  trees,  and  at  the  foot  a  clear  running  stream  of 
coolest  water,  abounding  in  fish.  Under  a  great  rock, 
half-way  up  the  slope,  gushed  forth  a  spring  of  delicious 
water,  which  went  singing  on  its  downward  course  to 
the  river.  From  the  summit  of  the  rising  ground  the 
eye  could  range,  in  that  clear  atmosphere,  over  miles 
and  miles  of  rolling  prairie,  green  with  lush  grass 
after  the  rains,  and  dotted  with  clumps  of  timber, 
like  some  vast  park  in  the  old  country ;  a  veritable 
paradise  of  Nature's  own  making,  "  where  only  man  was 
vile  " — and  pretty  vile  too  some  of  us  were  !  Mightily 
we  enjoyed  ourselves  for  a  time,  for  the  weather  was 
beautiful,  and  fish  and  game  of  all  sorts  abundant. 

Presently,  however,  sinister  rumours  as  to  Dunn's 
intentions  began  to  spread,  and  it  was  said,  amongst 
other  things,  that  he  had  given  certain  of  his  followers 
to  understand  that  he  wanted  no  prisoners  brought  into 
camp.  The  majority  of  the  men,  especially  those  who 
were  Southern  born,  were  utterly  opposed  to  such  deeds  ; 
and  many  of  us,  myself  amongst  the  number,  openly 
declared  we  would  do  all  in  our  power  to  put  a  stop 
to  them.  .But  amongst  the  command  there  were  many 
"  whitewashed  "  Yankees,  and  even,  I  am  ashamed  to 
say,  some  Scotsmen,  who  were  ready  tools  for  Dunn's 
infamies,  and  believed  in  converting  Union  men  to  the 
true  faith  by  means  of  the  halter. 

I  soon  noticed  that  neither  I,  nor  any  of  those  who 
thought  with  me,  were  sent  out  on  scout.  It  was  very 
suspicious,  as  presently  many  parties  were  detailed  to 
scour  the  country  who  rarely,  if  ever,  brought  in  any 
prisoners,  and  were  very  reticent  about  their  doings. 
Amongst  these,  two  parties  of  twenty-five  each  were 


A    PITIABLE    SIGHT  237 

sent  out  with  wagons  to  bring  in  from  the  scattered 
ranches  the  wives  and  children  of  those  who  had  taken 
to  the  mountains,  and,  I  fear,  to  harry  their  homes.  In 
four  days  they  returned  with  the  wagons  full  of  prisoners — 
four  or  five  men,  and  eight  women  with  their  little  ones. 
The  latter  were  sent  on  to  Friedricksburg,  and  the  former 
confined  in  the  guard  tent. 

It  was  a  pitiable  sight  to  see  all  these  poor  folks  stripped 
of  their  property,  such  as  it  was,  earned  by  hard  toil 
and  exposure  on  a  dangerous  frontier  ;  and  I  could  not 
but  contrast  their  treatment  with  that  of  well-known 
Abolitionists  in  San  Antonio,  who,  because  they  were 
wealthy,  and  made  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteous 
ness,  were  not  only  unmolested  but  specially  favoured 
in  all  sorts  of  ways.  Many  of  these  were  German  Jews, 
who  did  nothing  for  the  South,  but  monopolised  trade, 
and  got  all  the  contracts  for  supplies  given  them  by  the 
military  authorities,  with  whom  they  shared  the  plunder 
of  the  unfortunate  soldiers. 

These  prisoners,  I  afterwards  learned,  had  been  in 
formed  against  by  a  Dutch  tavern-keeper  in  Friedricks 
burg  who  was  often  out  in  camp  drinking  with  Dunn, 
and  who  had  private  spites  against  most  of  them,  which 
he  took  good  care  to  pay  off. 

I  forgot  to  mention  that  very  few  of  the  outlying 
settlers  came  in  to  take  the  oath  before  the  expiration 
of  the  three  days  ;  probably  because  they  were  more 
occupied  with  procuring  a  living,  and  protecting  their 
families  from  Indian  raids,  than  with  politics.  Possibly, 
too,  many  of  them  never  heard  of  Dunn  and  his  pro 
clamation  until  they  were  arrested. 

The  day  after  the  return  of  the  wagons,  one  hundred 
of  us,  of  whom  twenty  belonged  to  my  company,  were 
warned  to  prepare  seven  days'  rations  and  to  go  on  a 
scout  into  the  mountains  to  find  and  attack  the  Bush 
whackers'  camp.  One  of  the  prisoners,  an  old  soldier, 
and  a  friend  of  Dunn's,  had  been  released,  and  he  was 


238       ON   THE    BUSHWHACKERS'    TRACK 

to  act  as  our  guide  and  betray  his  friends,  if  possible, 
into  our  hands. 

We  all  set  off  in  high  spirits,  for  we  had  soon  tired  of 
inaction,  and  here  was  a  chance  of  a  fight  against  men 
who  really  were  in  arms  against  our  country,  and  were 
well  armed  too.  This,  at  any  rate,  was  better  work 
than  harrying  harmless,  defenceless  people,  whose  only 
desire  was  to  be  let  alone  to  earn  their  bread  in 
peace. 

The  first  day's  ride  took  us  over  a  rather  rough  prairie 
country,  in  which  we  passed  several  small  homesteads, 
ruined  and  deserted.  At  sundown  we  reached  what  had 
been  a  well-cultivated  little  farm,  situated  in  a  pretty, 
well-watered  valley.  The  owner,  a  Northern  man  named 
Henderson,  had  gone  to  the  mountains,  but  his  wife, 
also  from  the  North,  had  been  brought  into  camp  with 
her  numerous  children.  I  had  felt  very  sorry  for  her 
then,  for  she  bore  her  misfortunes  with  a  quiet  dignity 
that  was  very  touching  ;  but  when  I  saw  her  desolated 
home,  and  how,  in  that  out-of-the-way  place,  they  had 
made  so  prosperous  a  little  settlement,  all  now  wasted 
and  destroyed,  it  was  most  grievous. 

They  had  fenced  and  cultivated  about  twenty  acres 
of  good  land  on  the  side  of  the  valley,  cleverly  irrigated 
by  the  stream  running  through  it.  Now  the  crops  were 
trampled  and  destroyed,  and  not  a  living  thing  was  to 
be  seen  on  the  place  ;  even  the  bee-hives  in  front  of  the 
comfortable  log  house  were  overturned  and  empty. 
The  poor  little  furniture  in  the  living-room,  and  the  loom 
in  the  kitchen,  had  been  smashed  ;  and  all  this  had  been 
done  by  some  of  our  marauding  parties  by  our  Captain's 
orders.  It  made  one  utterly  ashamed  to  be  serving  with 
such  men  ;  but  there  was  no  help  for  it  now  ! 

The  following  day  we  struck  the  Guadaloupe  River, 
and,  travelling  up  its  course,  soon  passed  beyond  the 
region  of  settlements.  The  stream  itself  was  most 
beautiful,  running  clear  and  strong  over  a  rocky  bottom 


THE    GERMANS*    CAMP  239 

and  between  high  cliffs  crowned  with  giant  cypress- trees. 
Here  and  there  it  would  open  out  into  cool,  shady  pools, 
just  deep  enough  for  a  delightful  swim.  By  one  such  as 
this  we  made  our  noonday  halt,  and  soon  were  cooling 
our  fevered  skins  in  such  a  bath  as  made  full  amends  for 
the  burning  heat  of  the  morning's  ride.  Then  on  again, 
still  following  the  river,  over  ground  rising  more  and 
more,  and  growing  more  difficult  for  the  wagon  to 
follow  us  over. 

The  next  day  we  left  the  main  stream  of  the  Guadaloup6 
and  struck  across  to  its  southern  branch.  There,  about 
midday,  we  found  a  deserted  camp  of  the  men  we  were 
after.  It  was  admirably  situated  in  the  midst  of  cedar- 
brakes,  and  had  been  left  perhaps  four  or  five  days  be 
fore,  after  being  occupied  for  quite  a  month. 

These  Germans  apparently  meant  business,  for  they 
had  cut  rude  human  figures  on  the  trunks  of  some  of 
the  big  trees,  and  had  used  them  for  targets  for  their 
rifle  practice.  From  their  "  sign "  I  reckoned  there 
were  about  160  of  them,  and  the  event  proved  I  was  not 
far  wrong. 

The  trail  led  about  west,  towards  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  it  was  evident  from  this  direction,  and  from  the 
start  they  had,  that  our  scout  would  be  a  long  one.  So 
we  concluded  to  halt  where  we  were  till  next  day,  to 
rest  our  horses,  and  fix  up  bread  and  coffee  enough  for 
three  days  ;  for  the  wagon  could  follow  us  no  farther 
over  the  rough  country  we  had  reached.  Soon  we  were 
busy  enough,  baking  bread  and  "  parching  "  coffee ;  and 
that  finished,  all  of  us,  except  the  guard,  and  two  energetic 
souls  who  went  out  hunting,  were  soon  stretched  out 
on  the  soft  grass,  under  the  canopied  shade  of  the  great 
trees,  enjoying  an  unwonted  siesta.  Towards  evening 
the  hunters  returned  with  a  small  bear  they  had  killed, 
so  they  said  ;  but  it  was  so  miserably  poor  as  to  be 
uneatable,  and  they  were  very  riled  at  being  told  they 
must  have  found  it  dead  of  starvation  ! 


240       ON    THE    BUSHWHACKERS5    TRACK 

Our  party  was  divided  into  messes  of  five  each,  and  our 
scanty  provisions  of  bread,  bacon,  sugar  and  coffee  were 
carried  in  turn  by  each  of  the  members  in  a  sack  swung 
across  the  cantle  of  the  saddle.  The  first  turn  at  this 
was  taken  by  one  Billy  Mac,  of  which  more  anon. 

The  morning's  ride  led  us  over  a  tremendously  rough 
and  hilly  country,  and  we  could  only  follow  the  trail  in 
Indian  file,  till  we  struck  the  head  of  the  Medina  River. 
Here  the  country  became  rough,  rolling  prairie  studded 
with  timber,  and  we  pushed  on  along  the  wide  trail  at  a 
smart  pace,  till  we  called  a  short  halt  at  midday.  Then 
it  was  discovered  that  a  dire  misfortune  had  overtaken 
our  mess,  for  the  miserable  Billy  had  dropped  the  whole 
outfit !  The  villain  had  found  out  the  loss  in  time  to 
have  gone  back  for  the  bag  but  was  afraid  to  do  so,  and 
so  held  his  tongue.  We  five  unfortunates  were  in  a  pretty 
plight  now,  for  all  we  had  amongst  us  was  a  couple  of 
loaves  of  bread  and  a  lump  of  bacon,  and  our  comrades 
had  only  barely  enough  for  themselves.  The  language 
addressed  to  the  culprit  will  not  bear  repetition.  Though 
naturally  forcible,  it  only  relieved  our  feelings,  but  did 
nothing  for  our  hunger. 

Now  as  we  rode  along  that  afternoon,  another  trail 
came  into  the  one  we  were  following,  showing  the  Bush 
whackers  had  been  reinforced  by  another  party. 

It  was,  for  the  most  part,  desperate  country  to  ride 
over,  for  we  were  well  in  the  mountains,  and  frequently 
had  to  dismount  and  lead  our  horses  down  rocky  slides. 
Towards  evening  the  trail  led  us  to  a  large  water-hole 
on  the  head  of  the  Frio  River  ;  perhaps  the  only  one  to 
be  found  for  many  miles  of  its  course,  which  showed  the 
enemy  had  good  guides.  Here  we  watered  our  thirsty 
horses  and  filled  our  canteens  and,  after  a  brief  rest, 
pushed  on  again.  We  were  nearing  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  if  we  were  to  catch  the  Germans  we  must  keep  on 
without  pause.  The  full  moon  rose  gloriously,  and  by 
her  light  we  rode,  and  clambered,  and  slid  till  midnight, 


WILL   THEY    FIGHT    OR    RUN?  241 

when  wo  camped  for  a  brief  rest  on  a  rough  and  narrow 
plateau,  where  there  was  a  little  grass  for  the  horses 
but  no  water.  From  the  elevation  on  which  we  stood 
we  could  see  that  the  whole  country  to  the  south-west 
was  on  fire.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight,  probably  caused 
by  the  Indians  firing  the  dry  cedar-brakes,  which  burnt 
like  pitch-pine. 

That  night  again  all  the  talk,  till  sleep  claimed  us,  was 
of  the  prospects  of  a  fight.  Would  the  Germans  stand  or 
run  ?  My  own  idea  was  that  they  would  get  over  into 
Mexico  if  they  could,  but  if  caught  would  fight  des 
perately.  They  had,  no  doubt,  heard  of  the  character 
and  the  doings  of  our  commander,  and  would  sell  their 
lives  dearly  rather  than  fall  into  his  hands.  Moreover, 
most  of  them  were  old  frontiersmen  and  good  marksmen. 
But  what  they  actually  did  must  be  told  in  the  next 
chapter. 


16 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   FIGHT — AND    AFTER 

BEFORE  sun-up  next  morning  we  were  in  the  saddle  again, 
and  about  ten  o'clock  struck  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
Nueces  River,  where,  there  being  good  water  and  grass, 
we  halted  for  breakfast  and  to  graze  our  horses.  Thanks 
to  Mr.  Billy,  my  breakfast  consisted  of  a  few  mouthfuls 
of  bread,  and  nothing  but  water  to  wash  it  down  !  But 
there  was  a  good  feed  for  our  horses,  who  wanted  it 
badly.  What  tough,  good  animals  these  Texan  horses 
are,  mostly  of  the  old  Spanish  stock  !  They  had  had  a 
rare  rough  journey  over  that  terrible  country,  but,  so 
far,  none  had  knocked  up.  My  own,  which  was  one  of 
the  best  little  animals  I  ever  rode,  was  a  bit  tucked  up, 
but  as  game  as  ever. 

We  were  traversing  the  eastern  watershed  of  the 
mountains  bordering  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Mexican 
frontier,  in  which  all  the  streams  of  Western  Texas,  such 
as  the  Pecos,  Medina,  Nueces,  and  Frio,  take  their  rise. 
Most  of  these,  high  up  near  their  sources,  run  dry  except 
in  the  heavy  rains,  or  at  best  give  only  a  scanty  supply 
of  water  in  pools,  and  at  long  intervals.  But  fortunately 
the  Nueces  was  an  exception,  for  we  found  it  running 
strongly,  though  only  a  few  inches  deep,  between  cliffs 
a  hundred  feet  high,  and  over  a  bed  of  solid  rock  of 
about  the  same  number  of  feet  in  width.  On  this  the 
trail  was  easy  enough  to  follow,  for  the  Germans'  horses 
were  all  shod,  and  had  left  white  marks  on  the  rocks. 

The   rocks   above   our   heads   were   rich   with   untold 

242 


A    STRAGGLING;  PARTY  243 

wealth  of  honey,  and  the  river  full  of  fish,  but  we  could 
not  pause  to  take  toll  of  either. 

The  fugitives  were  not  far  ahead  of  us  now,  for  at  two 
o'clock,  close  to  another  of  the  branches  of  the  Nueces, 
we  came  on  their  camp  in  which  they  had  slept  the 
previous  night.  The  fires  were  still  smouldering,  and  great 
chunks  of  half-cooked  beef  were  lying  about.  It  was 
pretty  plain  they  did  not  know  they  were  being  followed, 
or  surely  they  would  have  waylaid  us  in  one  or  other 
of  the  narrow  defiles  in  the  river.  There,  from  under 
cover  of  the  cypress  growth  on  the  edge  of  the  cliffs, 
they  could  have  shot  us  down  at  their  ease,  and  not  one 
of  us  could  possibly  have  escaped  to  tell  the  tale. 

They  were  evidently  lulled  into  false  security,  for 
they  were  not  hurrying  their  flight,  nor  had  they  any 
rear  guard  out  to  cover  their  retreat.  That  being  so, 
near  as  they  were  to  the  frontier,  we  made  sure  of  catching 
them  before  they  could  cross,  and  probably  that  very 
night.  We  pushed  on,  the  country  getting  worse  and 
worse,  and  we  generally  on  foot,  as  it  was  impossible 
to  ride,  till  the  light  failed  us,  and  then  halted  for  the 
night.  There  was  some  talk  of  marching  again  when 
the  moon  rose,  but  both  men  and  horses  were  too  done 
for  that,  and  we  had  to  rest  till  morning.  There  was 
no  water  for  any  of  us,  and  for  our  unfortunate  mess  no 
food,  except  a  lump  of  raw  bacon. 

Famishing  and  parched  with  thirst,  we  struggled  to 
the  top  of  the  dividing  ridge  of  the  watershed  next 
morning,  and  then  led  our  horses  down  the  most  pre 
cipitous  descent  ever  attempted  by  mounted  men. 
Wonderful  to  say,  the  horses  all  got  down  without  serious 
mishap ;  but  before  we  had  negotiated  the  worst  of  it, 
we  were  spread  out  in  a  straggling  line  nearly  three 
miles  in  length.  Again,  if  the  Bushwhackers  had  only 
known  it,  what  a  chance  they  had  to  cut  us  up  ! 

At  midday  we  struck  a  water-hole  on  some  stream, 
which  held  a  little  muddy,  evil-smelling  liquid,  but  a 


244  THE    FIGHT— AND    AFTER 

perfect  godsend  to  both  men  and  horses.  Then  we  five 
miserables  boiled  our  lump  of  bacon,  and  drank  the  soup  ; 
the  only  food  we  had  tasted  since  the  previous  morning. 

Round  this  water-hole  the  "  sign  "  of  the  fugitives 
was  quite  fresh,  and  we  followed  on  the  trail  with  all  due 
precaution,  keeping  scouts  out  ahead,  lest  we  should 
stumble  on  them  unawares.  We  had  only  ridden  on 
about  two  miles  from  this  spot  when  our  scouts  came 
hastening  back  to  report  that  our  long  stern  chase  was 
at  an  end.  They  had  found  the  camp  of  the  Bush 
whackers  about  three  miles  away,  on  a  small  prairie 
surrounded  by  cedar-brakes,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
western  branch  of  the  Nueces.  The  prairie,  on  our  side 
of  the  stream,  ran  up  in  steep  rocky  cliffs,  and  from  the 
top  of  these  the  scouts  had  overlooked  the  camp. 

The  enemy  were  supposed  to  be  about  150  in  number, 
and  they  had  two  hundred  horses  grazing  on  the  prairie 
round  their  camp.  From  the  fact  that  they  had  no  scouts 
out,  and  their  general  carelessness,  it  was  evident  they 
hadn't  the  slightest  suspicion  they  were  being  followed. 

There  were  three  officers  with  us,  a  man  named  Cole 
McCree,  a  lieutenant  in  Davis's  company  of  Partizan 
Rangers,  being  in  command  of  the  whole  party,  with 
Lieutenant  Harbour  of  the  same  company,  a  rough  but 
good  sort  of  fellow  and  a  "number  one  "  Indian  fighter, 
under  him.  A  Lieutenant  Luck  was  in  command  of  our 
detachment  of  twenty,  and  in  view  of  the  crime  so  soon 
to  be  committed,  in  which  he  took  a  leading  part,  it 
may  be  well  to  give  his  antecedents. 

A  Yankee  by  birth,  and  an  entirely  uneducated  and 
ignorant  man,  he  was  a  horse-dealer  and  livery-stable 
keeper  in  San  Antonio,  with  a  reputation  for  sharpness 
in  trading  which,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  would  compare 
favourably  with  that  of  most  of  his  kidney.  In  fact,  he 
was  an  unscrupulous  rascal  who  would  cheat  his  own 
father — if  he  could.  Till  some  time  after  Secession  he 
was  a  strong  Union  man,  but  when  the  Confederacy 


A    NIGHT    ATTACK  245 

seemed  likely  to  come  out  on  top,  he  became  the  hottest 
of  hot  Secessionists.  By  Dunn's  influence  he  was  elected 
junior  lieutenant  in  our  company  ;  but  not  by  my  vote, 
for  I  never  thought  him  fit  for  even  4th  Corporal. 

We  then,  being  halted  on  the  return  of  the  scouts, 
these  three  went  forward  to  reconnoitre  the  position 
before  forming  the  plan  of  attack.  In  about  an  hour 
they  came  back,  and  orders  were  issued  for  a  night 
attack,  to  be  delivered  just  after  midnight.  Then  we 
moved  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  up  a  ravine  running 
at  right  angles  to  the  river,  where  we  were  securely 
hidden,  and  there  off-saddled,  and  spread  our  blankets 
to  await  the  coming  fight  with  what  patience  we 
might. 

I  may  say  we  were  all  pretty  confident  of  whipping 
the  Germans,  and  the  general  idea  seemed  to  be  that 
they  would  show  but  little  fight.  I  thought,  as  I  said 
before,  that  we  had  a  pretty  tough  job  before  us,  unless 
we  could  effect  a  complete  surprise  of  the  camp,  and  that, 
with  undisciplined  troops  and  incompetent  leaders,  was 
not  very  likely.  However  we  were  to  put  the  question 
to  the  test  of  experience  very  soon,  and  in  the  meantime 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  rest  and  be  thankful 
for  that  blessing. 

About  eleven  o'clock  my  comrade  and  I  were  roused 
out  of  a  sound  nap  to  find  the  whole  party  falling  in. 
Arms  were  carefully  inspected,  hats  were  discarded,  and 
a  white  handkerchief  tied  round  our  heads  ;  then  leaving 
our  horses  under  a  small  guard,  for  the  attack  was  to  be 
made  on  foot,  we  marched  off  in  single  file,  by  the  light 
of  an  overclouded  moon,  over  breakneck  rocks  and 
down  the  steepest  slides.  Silence  had  of  course  been 
strictly  enjoined,  and  for  their  own  sakes  was  kept  by 
all,  so  that,  as  we  slowly  crept  up  and  down  those  dreadful 
rocks,  not  a  whisper  was  heard,  not  a  sound  was  audible 
save  the  tramp  of  feet  or  the  noise  of  a  falling  stone. 
Into  the  bed  of  the  stream  we  slid,  one  by  one,  down  the 


246  THE    FIGHT— AND    AFTER 

steepest  declivity  of  all.  It  was  only  knee-deep,  running 
strong  and  clear,  with  great  boulders  scattered  every 
where.  Though  no  word  was  spoken,  one  could  see  the 
intense  excitement  of  the  men  as  they  paused  for  a 
hurried  drink  of  water,  and  clutched  their  rifles  and 
crept  stealthily  on  again. 

Our  detachment  led  up  the  stony  slope  that  would 
land  us  on  the  little  prairie  where  was  the  camp  ;  and 
our  orders  were  to  wheel  to  the  right  on  the  top,  creep 
through  the  cedar-brakes,  and  line  up  on  the  far  side  of 
the  camp.  The  rest  of  the  party,  marching  straight  to 
the  front,  would  form  line  on  the  near  side  of  the  camp. 
The  enemy's  pickets  were  to  be  captured  without  noise 
and,  the  camp  not  being  disturbed,  the  whole  force  was 
to  wait  till  daybreak  came,  and  at  the  sound  of  a  signal 
shot  from  McCree's  pistol,  charge  right  in. 

It  was  beautiful  in  theory,  but  how  the  man  could 
have  expected  us  to  carry  it  out  successfully  in  practice, 
I  don't  know  !  Of  course  there  was  a  frightful  muddle, 
as  we  shall  see  ;  all  orders  and  pre-arrangements  were 
forgotten,  and  confusion  reigned  supreme  directly  the 
first  shot  was  fired.  We  managed  our  part  of  the  business 
very  well,  and  crept  through  the  brakes,  to  within  about 
300  yards  of  the  camp,  without  in  any  way  alarming  the 
enemy  or  seeing  any  outpost.  Then  we  halted  in  dead 
silence.  Hardly  had  we  done  so  when  a  rifle  shot,  coming 
from  the  far  side,  rang  out  in  the  stillness  of  the  night. 
Some  idiot,  over-excited,  had  loosed  off  at  a  sentry,  and 
instantly  the  camp  was  in  a  buzz,  like  a  swarm  of  bees. 
Men  ran  hither  and  thither  in  great  confusion,  and  if 
what  had  happened  had  been  foreseen,  and  orders  given 
to  charge  at  once,  no  doubt  we  could  have  carried  the 
camp  with  little  loss.  But  no  one  knew  what  to  do, ^ and 
we  on  our  side  lay  low,  waiting  for  developments.  Pre 
sently  the  Germans,  having  recovered  from  their  surprise 
and  got  their  arms,  fired  a  volley  at  our  comrades  on 
the  far  side,  but  without  much  execution  in  the  darkness 


DESULTORY    FIRING  247 

of  the  night.  This  was  replied  to  by  our  people,  and 
the  firing  became  general  on  their  side. 

So  far  we  hadn't  fired  a  shot,  and  our  presence  was 
unsuspected  ;  but  now  two  of  their  picket-guards  came 
running  in  a  few  yards  in  front  of  our  position,  driving  some 
horses  before  them.  One  shot  was  fired  without  effect ; 
three  more  followed,  and  a  heavy  thud  told  that  one  at  any 
rate  was  killed.  One  of  our  party  ran  out  and  brought  in 
the  dead  man's  arms,  a  Colt's  six-shooter  and  a  Jager  rifle. 

From  where  we  lay  to  the  cedar-brake  round  the  mott, 
or  clump  of  timber,  was  about  fifty  yards  of  open  ground, 
and  we  were  now  ordered  to  double  across  this  inde 
pendently,  and  then  find  what  cover  we  could.  In  the 
darkness,  made  more  intense  by  the  shadows  of  the  great 
trees,  all  got  across  safely  and,  taking  cover  at  varying 
distances  from  the  camp,  opened  fire  on  its  defenders. 
Some  of  the  men  blazed  away  in  great  excitement,  and 
didn't  do  much  execution,  but  suffered  some  loss  through 
foolishly  exposing  themselves  ;  one  of  our  party  getting 
a  bullet  through  his  arm  and  one  through  each  thigh. 

The  defenders  still  showed  a  bold  front,  and  dared 
us  to  come  on.  They  even  threatened  to  charge  out  on 
McCree's  party,  some  of  whom  were  inclined  to  bolt, 
but  were  promptly  rallied  by  Harbour. 

On  our  side  the  bullets  were  whistling  pretty  thickly 
over  the  heads  of  six  or  seven  of  us  who  were  fighting 
together,  and  from  our  then  position  it  was  difficult  to 
return  the  fire  with  much  effect.  Very  cautiously  then, 
now  crawling,  now  dodging  behind  trees,  I  worked  my 
way  up  to  the  edge  of  the  mott  in  which  the  camp  stood, 
followed  by  my  comrades.  There  for  a  brief  space  we 
kept  up  a  galling  fire  on  the  defenders,  but  when  four  of 
our  party  had  dropped,  one  with  a  bullet  through  his 
head,  and  the  others  severely  wounded,  we,  the  three 
survivors,  had  to  retire  the  way  we  came. 

The  defenders  by  this  time  had  lost  very  heavily,  and 
began  to  make  off  in  small  parties  through  the  thick  brush. 


248  THE    FIGHT— AND    AFTER 

From  our  side  a  few  of  us  pursued  one  of  these,  but  soon 
lost  them,  and  when  we  got  back  the  camp  had  been  taken, 
with  a  loss  on  our  side  of  twelve  killed  and  eight  wounded. 

The  defenders  suffered  very  severely  in  comparison 
with  ourselves,  fighting  as  they  did  in  close  formation 
in  the  centre  of  their  camp,  while  we  were  more  or  less 
behind  cover.  In  the  narrow  space  inside  the  mott 
lay  sixty  dead  and  twenty  wounded.  One  poor  creature, 
with  yet  a  little  life  in  him,  but  unable  to  move,  lay 
across  the  camp  fire.  Pulling  him  back,  I  put  out  the  fire, 
but  death  mercifully  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings  in  a 
few  minutes.  The  scene  was  a  ghastly  one,  and  for  a 
time  there  was  plenty  to  do  separating  the  wounded  from 
the  dead  and  dressing  the  hurts  of  the  former  as  best 
we  could,  for  we  had  no  surgeon  with  us. 

Seeing  there  were  plenty  of  willing  helpers  for  our 
own  poor  fellows,  some  of  the  more  humane  of  us  did 
what  we  could  to  ease  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded 
Germans.  They  had  fought  a  good  fight,  and  bore  them 
selves  so  pluckily  I  felt  sorry  I  had  taken  my  part 
against  them.  We  bound  up  their  wounds,  and  gave 
them  water,  and  laid  them  as  comfortably  as  we  could 
in  the  shade.  Poor  creatures,  how  grateful  they  were ! 

By  this  time  some  of  the  boys  had  cooked  breakfast, 
for  there  was  an  abundance  of  provisions  in  the  camp, 
and  I  fell  to  with  them,  with  an  appetite,  having 
tasted  nothing,  except  the  bacon  soup,  for  two  days. 
Hunger  appeased,  I  went  down  to  the  creek  hard  by 
to  see  if  any  poor  wounded  creature  had  crawled  there 
and  needed  assistance.  I  did  not  find  any,  but  happened 
on  a  cool  spring  bursting  out  below  a  great  tree-shaded 
rock,  and  sat  me  down  to  rest  a  few  moments. 

It  was  Sunday  morning,  and  my  thoughts  turned  to 
a  far-away  country  church,  where  presently  a  simple 
service  would  be  held,  and  those  so  dear  to  me  would 
be  worshipping.  What  a  contrast  to  the  scene  of  blood 
shed  and  evil  passions  I  had  just  left  ! 


MURDEROUS    WORK  249 

But  not  for  long  could  I  indulge  in  daydreams,  for 
there  was  plenty  of  work  to  be  done.  The  wounded  had 
to  be  attended  to  again,  and  then  the  numerous  horses 
belonging  to  the  Germans  had  to  be  gathered.  There  were 
about  200  of  these  grazing  about  in  all  directions,  some 
of  them  badly  wounded  by  stray  shots  during  the  fight. 

By  four  o'clock  we  had  got  them  all  together,  and 
put  the  worst  of  the  injured  ones  out  of  their  misery. 

Then  I  hurried  over  to  where  we  had  left  the  German 
wounded  to  see  how  they  were  getting  on,  and  was 
surprised  to  find  them  gone.  Asking  what  had  become 
of  them,  I  was  told  they  had  been  moved  to  better  shade 
a  short  distance  away.  With  this  answer  I  was  quite 
satisfied,  and  never  dreamed  the  brutes  with  whom  I 
served  would  be  guilty  of  foul  play,  especially  after  the 
gallant  fight  the  enemy  had  made. 

Just  then  one  of  our  own  wounded  called  for  water, 
and  I  brought  him  some  from  the  cool  spring.  As  I  was 
giving  it  to  him,  the  sound  of  firing  was  heard  a  little 
way  off.  I  thought  at  first  they  were  burying  some  of 
the  dead  with  the  honours  of  war  ;  but  it  didn't  sound 
like  that  either.  Then,  possibly  it  might  be  an  attack 
on  the  camp  ;  so  I  seized  my  rifle,  and  ran  in  the  direction 
of  the  firing.  Presently  I  met  a  man  coming  from  it 
who,  when  he  saw  me  running,  said,  "  You  needn't  be 
in  a  hurry,  it's  all  done  ;  they've  shot  the  poor  devils, 
and  finished  them  off." 

"  It  can't  possibly  be  they  have  murdered  the  prisoners 
in  cold  blood  !  "  I  said,  not  believing  that  even  Luck 
would  be  guilty  of  such  an  atrocious  crime.  "  Oh,  yes  ; 
they're  all  dead,  sure  enough — and  a  good  job  too  !  " 
Feeling  sick  at  heart,  though  I  hardly  even  then  credited 
his  report,  I  ran  on,  and  found  it  only  too  true. 

It  seems  they  were  asked  if  they  wouldn't  like  to  be 
moved  a  little  way  off  into  better  shade.  The  poor 
creatures  willingly  agreed,  thanking  their  murderers 
for  their  kindness.  They  were  carried  away,  but  it  was 


250  THE    FIGHT— AND    AFTER 

to  the  shade  and  shadow  of  death,  for  a  party  of  cowardly 
wretches  went  over  and  shot  them  in  cold  blood. 

This  was  Mr.  Luck's  work — the  remorseless,  treacherous 
villain  !  And  I  vowed  to  be  even  with  him  for  it,  if  ever 
I  got  the  chance.  Meanwhile  I  denounced  the  bloody 
deed  in  as  strong  language  as  I  could  use,  telling  the 
perpetrator,  to  his  face,  what  he  was,  and  what  every 
decent,  honourable  man  would  think  of  him  as  long  as  he 
lived.  He  handled  his  six-shooter,  and  looked  as  though 
he  would  like  to  use  it  on  me  ;  but  the  coward  was  afraid 
to  shoot  at  a  live  man,  as  I  told  him.  Fortunately 
some  of  my  own  comrades  backed  me  up,  or  I  have  no 
doubt  it  would  have  gone  hard  with  me  ;  as  it  was,  the 
scoundrel  played  me  a  scurvy  trick,  and  gave  me  the 
most  awful  day's  work  I  ever  did  in  my  life. 

I  brooded  all  the  rest  of  that  shameful  day  on  the 
best  course  to  pursue  :  there  was  no  hope  of  bringing 
the  murderers  to  justice,  for  I  felt  sure  Dunn  would  up 
hold  them,  and  that  General  Wasp  would  support  him. 
My  only  chance  then  was  to  get  out  of  the  company, 
or  to  attain  such  a  position  in  it  as  would  enable  me 
to  stop  such  deeds. 

In  justice  to  Cole  McCree,  who  was  a  brave  and  kindly 
man,  I  should  mention  that  he  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  fight,  and  had  no  knowledge  of  the  crime  committed 
by  Luck  and  his  friends.  The  latter's  chief  motive,  I 
believe,  was  to  prove  his  zeal  and  devotion  to  the  Southern 
cause,  and  by  these  base  murders  make  himself  popular 
with  the  authorities  in  San  Antonio.  What  their  char 
acter  was,  I  have  already  described,  and  Luck's  idea  of 
how  to  please  them  confirms  all  I  have  said  about  them. 

Immediately  after  the  fight  a  couple  of  the  boys  were 
sent  off,  post  haste,  to  Fort  Clark,  supposed  to  be  some 
thirty  miles  distant,  to  fetch  the  surgeon  stationed  there. 
Till  midnight  I  was  off  duty,  but  after  that  had  to  help 
tend  the  wounded,  some  of  whom  were  in  great  pain  ;  and 
we  had  no  appliances  with  which  to  treat  them,  nothing 


LITTER-BEARERS  251 

much  to  give  them  except  cold  water.  I  always  remember, 
to  the  credit  of  poor  humanity,  how  patiently  they  bore 
their  terrible  sufferings. 

It  was  quite  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  the  wounded, 
and  for  sanitary  reasons,  that  we  should  move  out  of 
camp  as  soon  as  possible.  Our  own  dead  were  buried 
in  one  long  trench,  but  those  of  the  enemy  were  carried 
to  where  the  murdered  prisoners  lay,  and  there  left  for 
a  prey  to  the  buzzards  and  coyotes. 

So  the  day  after  the  fight  we  were  all  busy,  making 
litters  for  the  wounded,  packing  arms,  ammunition, 
etc.,  captured  in  the  camp,  ready  for  transport,  it 
being  arranged  we  should  set  out  for  Fort  Clark  at  day 
break  next  morning.  My  comrade  Oje  and  I  suggested 
using  horse-litters,  which  we  knew  all  about.  But  Luck 
wouldn't  listen  to  this  ;  nothing  would  suit  him  but 
hand-litters.  He  had  no  doubt  laid  his  plans  to  pay 
out  myself  and  the  comrades  who  had  stood  by  me  in 
the  row,  though  we  had  no  suspicion  of  the  abominable 
trick  he  was  going  to  play  us,  more  especially  as  he  loudly 
declared  he  would  take  his  turn  at  the  bearer  work  with 
the  rest  of  us. 

That  night  the  doctor  arrived,  and  was  promptly  at 
work  ;  but  several  of  the  cases  were  very  serious,  and 
would  not,  he  said,  live  to  see  the  fort. 

Betimes  next  morning,  the  litters,  of  long  cedar  poles 
with  blankets  laced  to  them,  were  ready  with  their  sad 
loads,  and  the  horses  packed  with  the  plunder.  Four 
bearers  were  allotted  to  each  litter,  or  thirty-two  in  all  ; 
sixteen  of  whom,  being  all  that  were  fit  for  duty,  were 
taken  from  our  detachment.  The  mounted  men  marched 
ahead  with  the  guide,  carrying  our  rifles,  water-kegs, 
blankets,  and  everything  except  water-canteens  that  we 
took  for  the  immediate  use  of  the  sick.  The  first  stage  was 
to  be  about  five  miles  ;  there  the  mounted  party  were 
to  halt  till  we  came  up,  and  we  were  to  be  relieved  by 
fresh  bearers.  Louis  Oje  and  I,  with  two  other  men, 


252  THE    FIGHT— AND    AFTER 

carried  our  comrade  and  friend  Mont  Woodward,  who 
was  desperately  wounded. 

Wagons  and  ambulances  had  been  sent  out  from  the 
fort  to  meet  us,  or  rather  would  be  so  sent,  as  the  nature 
of  the  country  wouldn't  let  them  go  much  more  than 
five  or  six  miles  in  our  direction. 

Hardly  had  we  started  when  one  of  the  horses,  loaded 
with  rifles  not  very  securely  packed,  got  scared,  or 
didn't  like  his  load,  and  away  he  went,  kicking  and 
plunging  and  followed  by  three  others.  Down  the 
steep  hillside  and  through  the  thick  brush  they  went, 
shedding  rifles  at  every  stride ;  and  may  be  going  still 
for  aught  I  know,  for  we  never  saw  them  again,  nor  the 
forty  rifles  they  carried  between  them. 

Soon  the  mounted  men  disappeared  down  the  trail 
ahead  of  us,  and  we  plodded  on,  consoling  ourselves  with 
the  thought  that,  though  the  load  was  heavy  and  galled 
our  shoulders  badly,  we  should  get  a  rest  and  plenty  of 
water  at  the  end  of  five  miles.  The  sun  was  terribly 
hot,  but  we  kept  on,  with  occasional  short  rests  to  give 
the  sufferers  water  to  quench  their  burning  thirst.  For 
ourselves,  as  I  have  said,  there  was  none. 

For  nearly  three  hours  we  tramped,  and  climbed,  and 
slid  over  that  awful  country,  before  it  dawned  on  us  we 
were  deserted  by  that  scoundrel  Luck  and  the  rest  of  the 
party.  When  it  did  so  dawn  at  last,  many  of  the  men 
threw  themselves  on  the  ground,  and  declared  they  could 
not,  and  would  not,  go  any  farther.  We  certainly  were 
in  a  dreadful  plight,  but  what  was  ours  compared  with 
that  of  the  unfortunate  men  in  the  litters  ?  It  was  plain 
we  were  sold,  and  would  have  to  carry  our  burdens, 
through  that  dreadful  heat,  perhaps  fifteen,  perhaps 
twenty  miles,  without  a  drop  of  water.  But  for  the  sake 
of  our  suffering  comrades  we  must  go  through  with  it — 
if  we  could.  The  doctor,  who  was  with  us  and  behaved 
like  a  man,  taking  his  turn  at  the  litters,  backed  by  some 
of  us,  at  last  got  the  men  going  again. 


AN    AWFUL    JOURNEY  253 

Ojc  and  the  three  others  of  us  picked  up  our  litter  and 
started,  and  the  rest  soon  followed,  the  doctor  bringing 
up  the  rear,  to  see  that  none  lingered  behind.  To  add 
to  our  troubles,  and  they  were  bad  enough,  we  were  in  a 
dangerous  Indian  country,  and  had  no  arms  with  us,  not 
even  a  six-shooter  ! 

Our  own  poor  comrade  Woodward  was  past  utterance, 
for  he  was  at  the  point  of  death,  but  the  groans  of  some 
of  the  other  poor  creatures  were  piteous  to  hear. 

To  cut  a  long  story  short,  we  staggered  on  till  near 
sundown,  when  we  came  out  on  a  high  rolling  prairie 
on  which  we  saw  traces  of  wheel-marks — joyful  signs  in 
deed  that  we  really  were  on  the  road  to  the  fort,  for  till 
then  we  had  not  been  sure  we  were  right.  On  the  prairie 
were  plenty  of  nopals,  or  prickly  pears,  with  ripe  fruit  on 
them  ;  and  how  good  the  juice  was  to  our  cracked  lips 
and  parched  throats !  Just  after  sunset,  painfully 
stumbling  along  with  our  weary  burdens,  we  saw  two 
wagons  and  two  ambulances  coming  over  the  prairie. 
Was  ever  sight  more  delightful  to  longing  eyes  ?  In  one 
of  the  former  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  water,  and  I  don't 
think  any  I  ever  tasted  seemed  so  good  as  that. 

Soon  we  had  the  wounded  stowed  in  the  ambulances, 
and  ourselves,  as  best  we  could,  in  the  wagons.  We 
were  five  miles  from  the  fort,  and  had  come,  they  told 
us,  a  good  thirty  from  the  scene  of  the  fight.  It  was 
the  most  awful  journey  I  ever  made.  My  shoulders  were 
cut  to  the  bone  by  the  litter-poles,  my  feet  were  bleeding 
from  the  sharp  rocks,  and  I  was  utterly  broken  down,  as 
indeed  were  all  of  us,  including  the  doctor,  though  he, 
good  fellow  that  he  was,  still  had  pluck  and  strength 
enough  to  attend  to  his  charges  directly  we  reached 
the  fort. 

By-the-bye,  Luck's  excuse  for  leaving  us  in  the  lurch 
was  that,  when  he  left  the  bearer  party,  he  had  gone  in 
search  of  water,  and  lost  his  way.  It  was  too  thin,  and 
no  one  believed  it. 


CHAPTER    III 

A   RIDE   FOR   LIFE 

IT  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  we  reached  Port 
Clark,  and  found  supper  ready  for  us  in  our  camp  under 
some  beautiful  mulberry -trees  hard  by  the  creek.  But 
I  was  too  sick  and  done  up  to  do  more  than  drink  a  little 
coffee,  and  scarce  could  crawl  about  or  eat  for  two 
days.  Next  morning  I  did  manage  to  get  up  to  the 
hospital  to  see  how  the  wounded  were.  It  was  an  airy, 
commodious  building,  and  the  good  doctor  was  doing  all 
he  could  for  his  poor  patients  ;  but  most  of  them  were  in 
a  very  bad  way,  and  eventually  five,  out  of  the  eight  we 
had  carried  so  far,  died  in  hospital.  The  only  wonder  is 
that  any  of  them  survived  the  terrible  hardships  of  that 
journey. 

My  own  poor  comrade,  Woodward,  was  still  uncon 
scious,  and  evidently  slowly  passing  away.  He  died  that 
night,  happily  without  further  pain.  He  was  the  only 
son  of  his  mother,  and  she  was  a  widow.  How  should  I 
break  the  awful  news  to  her  ?  This  I  had  to  do,  when  I 
got  back  to  San  Antonio,  and  I  dreaded  the  ordeal  more 
than  I  can  tell.  But  it  had  to  be  done. 

Fort  Clark  had  been  built  about  six  years  before  by  the 
U.S.  Government,  and  was  capable  of  accommodating 
four  companies  of  troops.  It  was  situated  at  the  head 
of  the  Los  Moros,  a  small  stream  which  runs  into  the 
Rio  Grande  some  thirty  miles  to  the  south. 

The  country  round  was  rolling  and  open  for  the  most 
part,  but  here  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  brush,  in 

254 


THE    FRIO    CROSSING  255 

which  deer,  bear,  and  turkeys  abounded  and,  as  the  river 
was  full  of  trout,  it  was  a  sportsman's  paradise.  Settlers 
there  were  scarce  any  in  those  days,  and  they  only  cattle- 
raisers  ;  but  as  the  valley  of  the  Los  Moros  was  very 
rich,  and  easily  irrigable,  1  daresay  it  is  all  under  cultiva 
tion  now. 

For  a  week  we  rested  in  the  fort,  and  then,  the  day 
before  the  command  started  to  return  to  San  Antonio, 
Loo  Oje  and  myself  got  leave  to  ride  across  to  the  Frio, 
to  visit  our  ranches,  before  rejoining  at  headquarters.  As 
Indians  were  in  the  country,  we  rode  very  cautiously,  and 
camped  at  night  east  of  the  Nueces  River,  away  from 
water  and  without  making  a  fire.  Next  morning,  pretty 
early,  we  reached  Uvalde,  a  small  village,  where  we  got 
our  horses  watered  and  fed,  and  our  own  wants  supplied. 
There  we  learned  that  close  to  where  we  had  to  cross  the 
Frio,  a  bunch  of  Indians  had  camped,  and  killed  a  cow, 
and  that  farther  up,  on  a  small  creek,  they  had  killed  and 
mutilated  two  settlers  who  lived  at  the  head  of  the  Frio. 
It  was  supposed,  though  no  one  knew  for  certain,  that  the 
Indians  had  surprised  these  unfortunates  in  their  camp 
before  daybreak,  and  killed  them  as  they  slept.  All  this 
made  us  even  more  cautious,  and  didn't  seem  to  add 
much  to  the  pleasure  of  our  ride  across  the  prairies. 
However,  we  jogged  on,  keeping  a  bright  look-out  for 
Indian  "sign."  At  about  four  o'clock  in  the  evening  we 
were  close  to  the  crossing  of  the  Frio,  when  we  were  aware 
of  a  number  of  buzzards  hovering  over  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  river ;  but  as  we  knew  the  Indians  had  recently 
killed  a  cow  there,  thought  they  were  after  that,  or  rather, 
what  remained  of  it.  So  we  rode  down  the  steep  bank 
of  the  river  to  water  our  horses,  and  then  dismounted, 
to  climb  the  opposite  one.  I  was  leading,  and  as  I  neared 
the  top  of  the  bank,  saw  a  line  stretched,  with  beef  drying 
on  it,  and  horses  picketed  on  the  edge  of  the  brush.  In 
stantly  I  turned  about,  as  did  Oje,  and  we  reached  the 
bed  of  the  river,  apparently  unseen. 


256  A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE 

There  we  looked  to  our  arms,  and,  after  a  whispered 
consultation,  agreed  to  ride  some  three  or  four  hundred 
yards  up  stream,  climb  the  bank,  and  reconnoitre  the 
Indan  camp  on  horseback.  This  may  seem  foolhardy, 
but  our  horses  were  fast  and  fresh,  and  there  wasn't  much 
fear  of  the  red  devils  catching  us,  if  it  came  to  riding.  We 
climbed  the  bank  all  right,  then  mounted,  and  turning 
back  to  our  left,  rode  very  cautiously  through  the  brush, 
which  there  was  rather  thin,  and  not  very  wide.  Pre 
sently  we  saw,  about  a  hundred  yards  ahead  of  us,  two 
Indians,  apparently  busy  cooking  at  the  camp  fire.  They 
seemed  not  to  see  us,  or  at  any  rate  took  no  notice  of  our 
presence ;  but  as  we  didn't  know  how  many  there  might 
be  about,  we  thought  it  wisest  not  to  alarm  them,  and 
so  turned  sharp  to  our  right,  to  get  out  of  the  brush,  on 
to  the  open  prairie. 

Just  as  we  emerged  on  to  the  grass,  seven  Comanches 
burst  out  of  the  chaparral,  about  three  hundred  yards 
from  us,  yelling  like  demons,  and  brandishing  their  spears, 
as  they  galloped  down  on  us  on  their  bare-backed  ponies. 
We  "  stood  not  on  the  order  of  our  going,"  you  may  be 
sure,  but  stuck  spurs  into  our  horses,  and  went  off  as 
fast  as  they  could  lay  legs  to  ground. 

The  Indians  had  burst  out  on  us  at  full  gallop,  and 
before  our  horses  could  get  well  into  their  stride  the 
devils  were  not  much  more  than  a  hundred  yards  behind 
us.  Too  near  to  be  pleasant ;  for  now  they  began  to  loose 
off  their  arrows  at  us,  but,  what  with  the  pace  we  were  all 
going,  and  the  distance,  didn't  touch  us. 

By  this  time  I  knew  we  had  the  legs  of  them,  and  that, 
barring  accidents  to  our  horses,  we  could  ride  clean  away 
from  them.  So  we  got  our  revolvers  out,  and  easing 
down  a  bit,  let  them  overhaul  us,  till  they  were  perhaps 
not  more  than  eighty  or  ninety  yards  behind.  Then  we 
turned  in  our  saddles,  still  at  a  gallop,  and  let  drive  at 
them.  One  of  us,  I  don't  know  which,  made  a  lucky 
shot,  and  hit  one  of  the  ponies,  for  down  it  came  a  regular 


A    STERN    CHASE  257 

cropper,  and  lay  quite  still.  It  was  a  sad  pity  it  wasn't 
the  Comanche  himself  that  was  hit,  but  there  was  some 
consolation  in  the  thought  that  the  gentleman  would 
have  a  longish  walk  back  to  camp. 

The  remaining  six  held  on  after  us  as  hard  as  ever,  so 
now,  instead  of  keeping  on  down  the  Frio,  for  my  ranch, 
we  "  turned  to  sunset,"  in  which  direction  the  prairie 
was  more  level,  and  let  our  horses  go.  For  an  hour  longer 
the  yelling  demons  followed  us,  like  a  yelping  pack  of 
hounds,  but  gradually  tailed  off  more  and  more,  till  they 
saw  it  was  no  good,  and  gave  up  the  chase.  When  we 
were  quite  sure  we  had  shaken  them  off,  we  slowed  our 
horses  down  to  a  jog  trot,  and  reached  the  ranch  just  as 
darkness  fell,  very  thankful  for  having  saved  our  scalps 
by  so  near  a  shave. 

I  found  Thompson  pretty  fit,  and  all  well  at  the  ranch, 
except  that  the  previous  night  the  Indians,  no  doubt  the 
same  party  who  had  given  us  such  a  gallop,  had  killed 
one  of  our  horses  right  close  to  it.  All  the  others  had 
been  penned,  and  a  good  watch  kept  as  soon  as  Thompson 
heard  Indians  were  about ;  but  this  one  refused  to  be  driven 
in,  and  so  met  his  fate.  The  Comanches  had  also  killed 
a  poor  young  fellow  who  owned  the  nearest  ranch  to  us 
on  the  eastern  side,  and  run  off  several  horses  from  his 
place.  There  was  just  an  off-chance  we  might  catch 
these  marauders,  if  we  were  smart.  Therefore  I  imme 
diately  sent  out  a  Mexican  to  get  up  fresh  horses,  and 
got  a  young  fellow  staying  at  the  ranch  to  ride  down  to  a 
party  of  cow-hunters,  working  about  fifteen  miles  below 
us  on  the  Frio,  and  ask  their  help. 

That  evening  he  returned  with  five  good  men  and  true, 
keen  to  have  a  go  at  the  Comanches.  With  Thompson, 
young  Vinton  and  myself,  we  were  a  party  of  eight,  and, 
after  some  supper  and  an  hour  or  two's  rest,  set  off  on 
our  quest.  Riding  steadily  best  part  of  the  night,  we 
reached  the  Frio  crossing,  where  we  had  seen  the  Indian 
camp,  soon  after  daybreak.  Cautiously  reconnoitring 

17 


258  A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE 

the  position,  we  found  it,  as  I  feared,  deserted  ;  and  worst 
of  all,  the  wily  Comanches  had  so  scattered  that  it  was 
hopeless  to  follow  the  trail.  So  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  return  ingloriously  to  the  ranch,  which  we  did  the 
same  afternoon. 

On  the  back  trail  we  found  the  dead  body  of  the  pony 
we  had  killed  during  the  chase,  or  rather  what  remained 
of  it,  for  the  Indians  had  carried  off  the  hind-quarters  to 
eat,  and  the  buzzards  and  coyotes  had  been  busy  with 
the  rest.  The  head  and  neck  were  still  nearly  intact, 
and  I  found  on  examination  that  the  bullet  had  struck 
it  just  behind  the  ear,  which  fully  accounted  for  the 
sudden  drop. 

After  two  days'  stay  at  the  ranch  I  set  out  to  return 
to  the  command  at  San  Antonio,  where  I  arrived  at  the 
end  of  the  week,  and  found  my  company  encamped  on 
the  river-bank  near  the  town.  Over  our  pipes  and  coffee 
that  night  I  heard  from  some  of  my  comrades,  with 
whom  I  was  very  friendly,  of  Dunn's  infamous  doings  at 
and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Friedricksburg,  both  before 
we  started  after  the  Germans  and  whilst  we  were  away. 

I  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  that  I  had  not  been 
on  guard,  nor  had  I  been  sent  out  on  any  of  the  scouting 
parties  that  harried  the  country  round  ;  those  for  these 
duties  had  been  chosen  from  Dunn's  creatures,  and  had 
acted  on  the  hints  he  gave  them  that  he  wanted  no 
prisoners.  He  was  too  cautious  to  give  positive  orders 
to  that  effect.  The  unfortunate  prisoners,  whose  only 
offence  was  that  they  secretly  sympathised  with  the  North, 
were  placed  under  the  charge  of  the  guard,  and  in  the 
morning  were  reported  to  have  escaped.  They  had  been 
quietly  taken  away  and  hanged  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  camp. 

One  man  had  been  brought  in  by  a  patrol  one  morn 
ing,  accused  of  being  a  Northern  sympathiser.  Nothing 
could  be  proved  against  him,  and  that  same  night  he  was 
released,  and  given  a  pass  by  Dunn.  He  went  away  happy 


INOFFENSIVE    VICTIMS  259 

enough  no  doubt,  poor  fellow,  at  his  escape  from  such 
clutches.  Next  morning  his  body  was  found  hanging  in 
the  woods  near  by,  with  the  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear. 
Many  of  these  murdered  victims  were  fathers  of  families, 
and  some  of  them  greyheaded  old  men.  These  people 
were  not  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands,  there  was  no 
force  of  the  enemy  in  the  country,  and  we  had  no  similar 
acts  to  avenge.  Further  than  this,  martial  law  was  in 
force,  and  summary  justice  could  have  been  executed 
on  any  real  offenders  by  legal  methods. 

So  there  was  no  shadow  of  an  excuse,  no  possible 
palliation,  for  these  diabolical  midnight  assassinations. 
What  motives  could  have  actuated  the  perpetrators  of 
these  murders  it  is  hard  to  conceive.  Probably  there 
were  two.  The  first,  the  mad  lust  for  blood,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  killing  for  killing's  sake  aroused  in  men 
of  the  baser  sort,  whom  the  lawless  condition  of  society 
had  brought  to  the  top,  and  whose  evil  passions  were 
unrestrained  by  any  power  outside  themselves ;  the 
second,  the  desire  of  Dunn  and  his  creatures  to  prove 
themselves  ultra-Southern  in  principle,  and  so  make 
friends  with  the  State  authorities,  in  order  to  enrich 
themselves  by  further  pickings  and  stealings  from  the 
public  purse.  Be  that  as  it  may,  there  was  little  doubt 
that  more  than  twenty  unfortunate  men  had  been  done 
to  death  in  this  shameful  manner  in  and  around  Fried- 
ricksburg  by  Dunn's  connivance,  if  not  by  his  positive 
orders. 

There  was  a  very  strong  feeling  in  the  company  against 
him  and  the  other  officers,  which  I  did  all  in  my  power 
to  stir  up,  and  eventually  a  requisition  was  signed  by  a 
good  many  of  the  better  sort,  calling  upon  them  all  to 
resign.  He,  however,  braved  it  out,  cajoling  some  and 
threatening  others,  till  there  were  but  few  names  left 
and  we  had  to  drop  the  matter.  My  position,  and  that 
of  the  few  who  had  stuck  out,  was  not  a  pleasant  one ; 
for  I  was  a  marked  man,  and  there  was  the  prospect 


260  A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE 

staring  me  in  the  face  of  a  rope  on  a  live-oak,  and  myself 
dangling  at  the  end  of  it.  The  man  was  quite  capable 
of  murdering  me,  or  any  one  else  that  stood  in  his  way, 
and  I  don't  mind  confessing  that  I  felt  very  uneasy,  and 
was  very  careful  with  whom  I  consorted  at  night  just 
then.  My  only  chance  was  to  get  out  of  the  villain's 
command,  and  with  that  object  half  a  dozen  of  my 
friends  and  myself  requested  permission  from  General 
Wasp  to  quit  the  company  and  join  one  of  the  regiments 
of  the  Texan  Brigade  which,  under  Hood,  was  doing 
such  splendid  service  with  General  Lee  in  Virginia. 
This,  through  Dunn's  influence,  was  refused,  though 
every  available  man  was  urgently  required  in  Virginia 
to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  the  gallant  brigade,  and  for  the 
moment  I  was  at  my  wits'  end.  I  could  have  got  away 
easily  enough  by  malingering,  and  making  it  worth  Dunn's 
while  to  connive  at  it ;  but  there  are  some  things  a  man 
can't  do,  and  that  was  one  of  them. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  tell  of  all  the  efforts  I  made 
that  autumn  of  1862  to  get  out  of  my  enemy's  clutches — 
what  hundreds  of  miles  I  rode,  trying  to  recruit  men 
for  a  battalion  being  raised  for  Confederate  service  by 
a  Major  Coop  wood,  in  which  I  was  promised  a  captain's 
commission  if  I  could  bring  in  forty  men.  Failing  in 
that  attempt,  because  most  of  the  men  I  approached 
preferred  State  service  to  fighting  with  Lee  in  Virginia, 
where  real  hard  knocks  were  going,  I  tried  my  hand  at 
recruiting  for  Dunn  himself,  who  was  empowered  to 
increase  his  command  to  a  battalion  to  serve  in  Texas 
only.  In  this  enterprise  I  was  working  with  a  man  named 
Adams,  a  cattle-rancher,  and  a  great  friend  of  mine. 

We  were  solemnly  promised  by  Dunn,  in  his  most 
plausible  manner,  that  if  we  could  recruit  forty  men,  one 
of  us,  whichever  we  liked,  should  have  a  captain's  com 
mission,  and  the  other  a  first  lieutenant's.  He  had 
arranged  with  the  General  that  the  officers  were  not  to 
be  elected  by  the  men,  as  was  customary  in  Partizan 


SOLD    AGAIN!  261 

Ranger  corps,  but  to  be  appointed  by  himself.  So  he 
said.  We  both  had  great  doubts  as  to  the  reliability  of 
these  promises,  but  at  last  were  talked  over  by  the 
specious  rascal ;  which  says  a  good  deal  for  our  sim 
plicity,  and  something  for  his  cleverness. 

We  scoured  the  country  in  all  directions,  and  when 
we  had  secured  nearly  thirty  men,  brought  them  into 
camp  and  had  them  sworn  in. 

By  this  time  there  was  a  good  deal  of  grumbling 
amongst  the  men,  many  of  them  declaring  they  wouldn't 
serve  if  deprived  of  their  privilege  of  electing  their  officers. 

We  therefore  saw  Dunn  about  it,  and  he  again  assured 
us  there  certainly  would  not  be  any  election,  and  we  could 
absolutely  rely  on  getting  our  commissions  as  soon  as 
we  had  made  up  our  number.  Notwithstanding  this 
we  both  had  an  uneasy  feeling  we  were  going  to  be  done, 
but  having  already  taken  so  much  trouble,  resolved  to 
go  through  with  it.  So  we  set  to  work  again  to  make 
up  our  number,  and,  after  about  three  weeks'  hard  riding, 
returned  to  camp  with  ten  more  recruits.  No  election 
had  taken  place ;  and  after  hanging  about  in  camp  for 
some  days,  during  which  Dunn  repeated  his  assurances 
as  to  our  commissions,  we  both  asked  leave  to  go  to  our 
respective  ranches,  which  was  granted. 

I  was  away  for  a  week,  and  on  my  return  learned  that 
the  day  after  I  had  left,  an  election  of  officers  had  been 
held,  and  both  Adams  and  myself  had  been  left  out  in 
the  cold,  whilst  creatures  of  Dunn's  had  got  the  com 
missions  promised  to  us  ! 

When  I  tackled  him  about  it  he  was  quite  ready  with 
a  plausible  excuse,  saying  that  despite  all  his  efforts 
the  men  had  insisted  on  their  right  to  elect  their  officers, 
and  that  it  was  my  own  fault  for  going  away  that  I  was 
not  chosen.  If  I  had  not  been  an  enlisted  soldier  and 
under  his  command,  I  think  it  would  have  gone  hard 
with  Mr.  Dunn  at  that  interview  ;  but  as  it  was,  I  could 
only  grin  and  bear  it  as  best  I  might.  How  the  brute 


262  A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE 

must  have  chuckled  at  having  so  badly  fooled  me  !  We 
hung  about  in  San  Antonio  or  in  the  neighbourhood 
week  after  week,  and  for  all  the  service  we  were  to  the 
Confederate  cause,  might  just  as  well  have  been  dis 
banded. 

Horse-racing  and  gambling  were  the  chief  occupations 
of  the  officers  and  men,  though  the  latter  was  strictly 
forbidden  by  the  regulations  ;  yet  it  went  on  in  camp 
from  morning  to  night,  and  all  night,  leading,  as  may 
be  supposed,  to  the  utter  demoralisation  of  all  concerned. 
Quarrels  and  bloodshed  were  common  enough  among 
the  gamblers,  and  were  taken  little  notice  of,  as  they 
were  everyday  occurrences.  One  such  row  I  remember 
witnessing  on  the  main  plaza  in  San  Antonio.  I  was 
strolling  across  it  on  my  way  to  visit  a  friend,  and  was 
startled  by  a  bullet  whizzing  past  my  head.  I  turned 
and  saw  a  man  running  for  his  life  towards  me,  and  another 
staggering  after  him,  with  uncertain  steps,  but  shooting 
at  the  fugitive  as  fast  as  he  could  loose  off. 

I  was  pretty  well  in  the  direct  line  of  fire,  so  dodged 

behind    a    tree    to    await    events.     Peeping    round    the 

trunk   I  saw  the   pursuer  steady  himself  for  a  moment 

and  take  deliberate  aim.     This  time  the  bullet  found 

its  billet,  for  the  runaway,  who  had  just  reached  the 

corner  of  a  street,  fell  headlong,  shot  through  the  heart. 

He  was  a  captain  in  a  corps  that  had  been  christened 

"  the  Brigands,"  and  had  recently  returned  from  New 

Mexico    with    the    remnants    of    Sibley's    Brigade.     A 

gambler  and  a  thorough  desperado,  he  had  been  playing 

cards  with  the  other  man,  who  was  also  a  Confederate 

officer,  and  on  some  paltry  quarrel  had  struck  him  with 

his  knife,  but  failed  to  kill  him.     Having  no  six-shooter 

on  him,  he  then  took  to  his  heels,  with  the  result  described. 

The  survivor  recovered  from  his  wound  in  due  time, 

and  no  notice  of  the  homicide  was  taken  by  the  authorities. 

Such  fracas  were  common  enough  in  those  days,  and 

human  life  was  cheap  ;    why  should  they  trouble  them- 


IN    VINO    VERITAS  263 

selves  about  such  trifles  ?  In  fact,  of  real  discipline 
there  was  practically  none,  and  with  such  a  man  as  Dunn 
in  command,  could  be  none. 

I  remember  about  this  time  one  of  his  favourites,  who 
had  assisted  in  his  midnight  murders,  got  on  a  spree, 
and  returning  to  camp  very  drunk,  cursed  Dunn  and  all 
his  officers  in  unmeasured  language,  declaring  they 
were  thieves  and  murderers,  and  everything  that  was 
bad,  and  that  they  dare  not  punish  him  because  he 
knew  too  much  of  their  doings.  "  A  pretty  Major  we've 
got,"  he  shouted  ;  "  why,  he  did  six  months  with  a  ball 
and  chain  on  his  leg,  and  ought  to  have  them  on  now  !  " 
Next  morning  the  drunken  rascal  was  given  sixty  days' 
furlough,  to  recruit  his  health  !  He  was  quite  right, 
they  dared  not  punish  him. 

The  day  after  this,  quite  a  number  of  the  same  set 
raised  a  general  row  and  free  fight,  and  it  was  quite 
evident  that  such  an  insubordinate  crew  would,  if  we 
went  into  action,  be  a  greater  danger  to  their  officers 
than  to  the  enemy. 

It  was  about  the  end  of  October  that  I  saw  Pyron's 
regiment  of  Texan  Rangers  march  through  San  Antonio, 
en  route  for  New  Mexico,  where  both  they  and  he  dis 
tinguished  themselves  greatly.  Pyron,  though  originally 
a  barkeeper,  was  a  natural  born  soldier,  and  withal  a 
very  quiet,  unassuming  man.  His  men,  as  fine  a  body 
of  irregular  cavalry  as  you  could  wish  to  see,  well  mounted 
on  their  own  horses,  had  elected  him  colonel,  on  his 
merits  as  a  fighting  man,  and  he  deserved  their  confidence. 
How  I  wished  I  could  have  served  with  him  ;  for  every 
day  I  grew  more  and  more  disgusted  with  my  present 
position,  and  with  the  incompetent,  scheming  rascals 
who  commanded  us. 

One  evening  about  this  time,  on  my  return  to  camp, 
I  found  everybody  in  a  frantic  state  of  excitement.  A 
report  had  come  in  that  Cortinas,  the  notorious  Mexican 
guerilla,  had  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  with  two  thousand 


264  A    RIDE    FOR    LIFE 

men  to  raid  in  Texas,  and  we  were  under  orders  to  meet 
him.  I  didn't  believe  one  word  of  it,  and  thought  it 
only  one  of  the  many  "  shaves  "  always  being  started 
in  camp  to  enliven  the  deadly  monotony  of  existence. 
However,  it  was  true  enough  we  were  under  orders  to 
march  next  morning  into  the  town,  and  thence  to  the 
Rio  Grande  as  soon  as  transport  could  be  provided. 

As  I  expected,  there  proved  to  be  little,  if  any, 
foundation  for  the  report,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
go  recruiting  again,  if  I  could  obtain  leave  from  Dunn, 
for  General  R.  Baylor's  Brigade,  then  being  raised  for 
Confederate  service. 

After  some  demur  he  gave  me  the  leave  I  wanted, 
stipulating  that  I  should  recruit  for  him,  as  well  as  for 
General  Baylor,  to  which  I  had  reluctantly  to  agree  as 
the  only  means  of  temporary  escape  from  him  and  his 
hateful  command. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    FOUR   MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

WHEN  the  command  marched  away  for  the  Rio  Grande 
I  remained  a  day  or  two  in  San  Antonio  making  my 
preparations,  and  there  met  a  friend  who  held  a  com 
mission  to  raise  a  company  for  General  Baylor.  I 
agreed  to  work  for  him  on  the  understanding  that  I  was 
to  be  first  lieutenant  if  we  could  raise  the  men  required. 

All  along  the  Mexican  frontier,  from  the  Colorado  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  there  had  been  stationed  a  frontier 
regiment,  enlisted  for  State  service.  It  had  been  stationed 
in  detached  posts,  at  wide  intervals,  along  this  extended 
line  for  about  a  year,  and  was  now  going  to  be  reduced 
from  ten  companies  of  120  men  each,  to  the  same  number 
of  eighty  each.  Here  was  a  chance  to  get  a  good  number 
of  recruits,  if  only  I  could  persuade  them  to  come  with 
me  and  see  some  real  soldiering.  The  first  post  I  visited 
was  high  up  on  the  Frio>  some  sixty  miles  above  my 
ranch,  and  commanded  by  a  Captain  Dix,  with  whom  I 
was  acquainted. 

It  was  now  November  and,  for  Texas,  bitterly  cold. 
I  had  perforce  to  ride  long  distances  between  halts,  and 
as  I  couldn't  carry  more  than  one  blanket,  for  fear  of 
overloading  my  good  horse,  suffered  much  at  night. 
Moreover,  it  was  known  that  bands  of  Indians  were  out 
depredating  and  killing  in  the  country  through  which 
my  route  lay,  and  I  dare  not  make  a  fire  ;  it  would  have 
been  more  than  my  life  was  worth. 

However,  I  saw  nothing  of  the  Indians  themselves, 
though  plenty  of  their  "  sign,"  which  didn't  add  to  the 

265 


266       THE    FOUR    MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

pleasure  of  the  ride,  and  arrived  safely  at  Dix's  post. 
There  I  was  welcomed  kindly  enough,  but  alas  !  found 
three  recruiting  officers  had  been  there  before  me,  and 
that  the  few  men  they  had  failed  to  enlist  were  not  the 
sort  who  wanted  fighting  ;  indeed  I  believe  they  had 
joined  the  frontier  regiment  in  the  hope  of  keeping  out 
of  it.  After  a  few  days'  stay  I  left  for  Fort  Clark,  where 
was  another  frontier  post,  and  made  it  in  two  days'  ride. 
The  fort  was  held  by  two  companies  of  Confederate 
cavalry  under  command  of  Captain  Carolan,  an  old 
friend,  who  put  me  up  during  my  stay. 

The  camp  of  the  frontier  detachment  was  about  four 
miles  below  the  fort,  on  the  Los  Moros  Creek.  There  the 
following  day  I  tried  my  hardest  to  get  men  for  our 
company,  but  not  one  would  enlist  for  Baylor's  Brigade, 
though  several  were  willing  to  join  Dunn's  command, 
notwithstanding  that  I  told  them  quite  frankly  all 
about  it.  Finally,  after  three  days'  stay,  and  rinding 
I  couldn't  do  anything  else,  I  enlisted  some  twenty 
men  for  Dunn,  though  I  felt  almost  ashamed  of  myself 
for  doing  it. 

From  this  camp  I  rode  to  another  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
about  thirty  miles  distant,  travelling  down  the  valley 
of  the  Los  Moros ;  a  wonderful  stock  country,  and 
abounding  in  game.  This  detachment  was  commanded 
by  a  Captain  Rabb,  who  had  been  absent  from  it  some 
weeks,  leaving  his  orderly  Sergeant  in  charge.  What 
sort  of  a  disciplinarian  the  Captain  himself  was,  I  don't 
know,  but  the  Sergeant  had  no  sort  of  control  over  the 
men.  They  lived  comfortably  enough  in  huts  made  of 
grass,  and  hunting,  fishing,  horse-racing,  and  gambling 
filled  most  of  their  time.  No  guards  even  were  mounted, 
and  no  duty  of  any  sort  done  ;  it  was  only  playing  at 
soldiers. 

Not  long  after  my  visit  the  Comanches  looked  them 
up  one  night,  stampeded  their  horses,  and  drove  off  the 
lot  bef ore j,  they  knew  what  had  happened.  At  this 


THE    GERMAN'S    SKULL  267 

camp  I  couldn't  even  enlist  men  for  Dunn  ;  they  all  said 
they  were  too  comfortable  where  they  were,  and  didn't 
want  any  change  !  One  thing  I  mustn't  forget,  as  it 
shows  what  sort  of  men  these  were.  High  up  on  a  pole, 
on  the  top  of  their  commissary  store-hut,  grinned  a 
human  skull.  I  was  told  it  had  belonged  to  an  un 
fortunate  German,  who  with  others  of  his  countrymen 
had  been  killed  by  these  valiant  warriors,  when  at 
tempting  to  cross  the  Rio  Grande  some  months  before. 
They  were  quite  indignant  when  I  suggested  it  would 
be  more  seemly  to  bury  the  poor  remnant  of  humanity, 
evidently  regarding  it  as  a  trophy  to  be  proud  of. 

Being  certain  by  this  time  that  there  was  no  hope  of 
getting  men  for  my  friend's  company  in  Baylor's  Brigade, 
I  wrote  to  him  to  that  effect.  I  was  sorry  for  myself 
that  it  was  so,  and  especially  for  his  disappointment ; 
for  he  had  fought  bravely  in  the  ranks  of  Hood's  Texan 
Brigade,  and  been  badly  wounded  at  the  great  battle  of 
Sharpsburg. 

From  the  camp  on  the  Rio  Grande  I  returned,  the 
way  I  came,  to  the  post  near  Fort  Clark.  There,  on  this 
visit,  some  of  the  boys  suggested  I  should  try  to  raise 
a  company  for  myself,  which  several  of  them  said  they 
would  join.  I  didn't  feel  hopeful  of  success,  and  told  them 
so,  but  that  if  I  saw  a  chance  of  making  up  the  number 
I  would  return  to  them.  From  Fort  Clark  I  rode  to  an 
other  camp  at  the  head  of  the  Nueces  River,  but  met  with 
no  success  there  ;  and  so,  sick  of  recruiting  for  the  time 
being,  returned  to  San  Antonio.  Dunn,  who  was  there 
on  sick  leave,  professed  to  be  much  pleased  with  the 
twenty  men  I  had  got  for  him,  and  gave  me  leave  to 
continue  on  recruiting  service  as  long  as  I  wished. 

My  company,  1  found,  was  still  near  the  Rio  Grande, 
though  the  Cortinas  raid  had,  as  I  expected,  turned  out 
to  be  a  hoax.  So  hateful  to  me  was  the  thought  of 
rejoining  the  company  and  loafing  about  in  camp,  that, 
after  a  few  days'  rest  in  San  Antonio,  I  made  up  my 


268       THE    FOUR    MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

mind  that  even  unsuccessful  recruiting  was  better  than 
that,  and  so  started  out  west  again. 

During  my  absence  General  Herbert  had  been  succeeded 
in  his  command  by  General  Magruder.  The  former  was 
an  indolent,  imbecile  puppy,  who  knew  nothing  of 
soldiering,  and  was  by  no  means  a  fighting  man.  The 
latter  came  to  us  with  a  great  reputation  for  daring, 
which  he  had  gained  in  Lee's  Virginian  campaign — 
notably  in  the  desperate  fighting  at  Gain's  Mill. 

Herbert,  the  incompetent,  had  abandoned  Galveston 
to  the  Yankees  without  striking  a  blow,  to  the  great 
disgust  of  all  Texans,  and  especially  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town,  who  had  worked  untiringly  at  the  earth 
works  they  threw  up,  and  spent  all  their  substance  in 
arming  them.  Galveston  was  one  of  our  few  ports  of 
entry  for  goods,  which  were  scarce  enough  in  Texas  by 
this  time,  and  our  new  General  set  to  work  to  retake  it. 
He  collected  a  force  of  Texan  Rangers,  about  one 
thousand  in  number,  all  good  fighting  men,  and  put  a 
couple  of  hundred  of  them  on  board  two  little  coasting 
steamers. 

The  U.S.  cruiser  Harriet  Lane,  with  a  crew  of  about 
250  all  told,  lay  off  the  port,  about  a  mile  distant,  owing 
to  the  shallow  water.  One  pitch  dark  night  Magruder, 
and  his  two  little  steamers,  drifted  quietly  down  on 
the  unsuspecting  Yankee,  boarded  her  smartly  and, 
after  a  sharp  tussle,  captured  her,  with  small  loss  to 
the  attacking  party.  The  Northerners  ashore  heard 
the  firing,  but  could  render  no  assistance  to  their  com 
rades  ;  indeed  they  didn't  know  what  had  happened 
till  daylight  broke  and  they  saw  the  Confederate  flag 
flying  on  their  cruiser.  That  day,  as  soon  as  the  stores, 
ammunition,  etc.,  had  been  removed,  the  Harriet  Lane 
was  burnt  where  she  lay,  to  avoid  recapture,  for  the 
Confederates,  alas  !  had  no  port  into  which  to  take  her. 

After  this  disaster  the  Yankees  made  but  a  feeble 
resistance,  when  Magruder  and  his  Rangers  assaulted  the 


A    SUNDAY   AT   HOME  269 

town  and  captured  the  garrison.  This  signal  victory 
shed  a  gleam  of  hope  over  all  the  State,  and  infused  joy 
and  gladness  into  all  the  Rangers'  camps,  where  the 
men  had  been  until  now  depressed  and  disheartened 
by  the  ineptness  and  mismanagement  of  their  com 
manders. 

When  I  speak  of  "  camps,"  I  should  perhaps  explain 
that  in  the  Ranger  corps,  which  were  the  most  irregular 
of  irregulars,  there  was  no  such  thing  to  be  seen  as  a 
military  camp  in  the  ordinary  sense  :  no  ordered  array 
of  tents  in  lines,  with  ambulances  and  wagons  drawn  up 
in  parks,  nor  horses  on  picket  lines  at  regular  intervals. 
The  camp  consisted  only  of  the  men  and  the  horses, 
scattered  about  as  suited  each  one's  fancy  or  convenience, 
generally  under  the  shade  of  the  splendid  live-oaks  so 
common  in  the  country.  A  blanket  formed  the  man's 
bed,  and  his  saddle  served  him  for  a  pillow. 

On  my  way  up  country  this  time  I  stopped  at  my 
ranch  to  have  a  look  round,  and  spent  a  couple  of  days 
with  Thompson.  The  good  old  fellow  gave  me  a  most 
kindly,  friendly  welcome,  and  cooked  me  a  regal  supper 
of  venison  steaks  with  his  own  hands.  I  was  pretty 
hungry  after  my  sixty-mile  ride,  and  did  ample  justice 
to  my  friend's  cooking.  Then  when  coffee  had  been 
brewed,  and  the  pipe  of  peace  lighted,  one  realised  it 
was  worth  even  the  sixty-mile  ride  to  be  at  "  home  " 
again.  It  wasn't  much  of  a  place  to  be  sure,  but  it  was 
the  only  "  home  "  I  had  on  that  side  the  Atlantic, 
or  was  likely  to  have  for  some  time  to  come,  and  the 
magic  of  the  word  seems  to  endear  the  humblest  shanty 
to  one's  heart. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  we  spent  it  quietly 
strolling  about  the  place  :  a  restful,  peaceful  day  such 
as  I  had  not  enjoyed  for  months  past.  In  the  evening 
Thompson,  at  my  request,  read  several  chapters  from 
the  Bible,  and  read  them  very  well.  I  daresay,  if 
some  of  my  rough  Ranger  comrades  could  have  looked 


270        THE    FOUR    MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

in  on  us,  they  would  have  been  astonished  ;  though 
why  I  hardly  know,  since  even  from  a  literary  point 
of  view  there  is  no  grander  book  than  that,  and  in  the 
roughest,  wildest  periods  of  my  rough  life  I  have  always 
delighted  in  its  pages. 

On  the  Monday  we  took  a  good  look  round  the  range, 
and  found  the  stock  doing  well,  and  the  crop  of  calves 
larger  than  I  expected. 

Thompson,  I  should  have  mentioned,  had  sold  out  his 
share  in  the  ranch,  and  stock,  to  me  nearly  a  year  before, 
intending  to  return  home  and  settle  down  there  once 
more.  But  still  he  stayed  on  month  after  month,  and 
looked  after  the  place  for  me,  and  did  it  very  well  too. 
He  evidently  had  some  trouble  on  his  mind,  which  he 
didn't  like  to  confide  to  me,  though  every  now  and  then 
he  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  doing  so.  Poor  old 
fellow,  the  time  was  drawing  near  when  he  would  give 
me  his  confidence  ;  but  that,  alas  !  was  just  before  we 
said  "  good-bye  "  for  ever. 

After  this  brief  rest  I  started  again  on  a  fifty-mile 
ride  to  the  nearest  Ranger  camp.  There  I  stayed  but 
one  day,  as  no  good  was  to  be  done,  and  then  rode  over 
to  a  ranch  owned  by  a  Doctor  Jones,  a  friend  of  mine 
about  sixty  miles  above  me  on  the  Frio.  Poor  fellow, 
I  found  him  in  the  lowest  of  spirits,  for  the  Indians  had 
run  off  all  his  horses  the  week  before  !  It  was  now 
Christmas  Eve,  and  there  was  to  be  a  great  dance  at 
Fort  Inge,  twenty-five  miles  away,  to  which  I  was  invited, 
and  rode  over  to  combine  business  with  pleasure,  if 
possible.  Close  to  the  fort  I  overtook  the  surgeon  of 
the  post,  a  Doctor  Dodd,  a  very  good  fellow  indeed, 
but  more  of  a  fighting  man  than  a  doctor,  I  should  say  ; 
for  though  he  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  service, 
he  had  no  diploma,  and  owed  his  title  to  the  fact  of  his 
having  invented  a  cure  for  maggots  in  cattle  ! 

The  hospitable  Doctor  gave  me  a  pressing  invitation 
to  stay  at  his  comfortable  quarters,  which  I  accepted, 


A    CATTLE    DEAL  271 

and  there  introduced  me  to  his  wife  and  daughter. 
The  dance  was  a  great  success  ;  for  everybody  who  came 
had  travelled  long  distances  to  be  present,  and  camo 
to  dance  and  enjoy  themselves,  not  to  look  on. 

Two  violins  formed  the  band ;  and  indefatigable  they 
were,  for  they  played  till  nearly  daylight,  except  during 
an  interval  for  supper,  which  was  a  solid  sit-down  affair, 
with  an  abundance  of  eatables  and  drinkables.  I  need 
hardly  say  there  were  no  dress-suits  and  no  kid  gloves, 
and  indeed  I  don't  suppose  any  of  us  possessed  such 
things.  The  girls  of  course  were  in  their  best,  with 
perhaps  an  added  ribbon  or  two,  and  the  men  in  their 
riding  costume,  but  it  was  all  very  hearty  and  pleasant 
and  informal. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Christmas  Day  I  left  my  hospitable 
friends  and  rode  over  to  Uvalde,  where  I  expected  to 
find  some  recruits.  In  this  I  failed,  but  met  a  man  who 
wanted  to  buy  beeves  for  the  army,  but  could  find  none, 
chiefly  I  suspect  because  the  owners  didn't  like  Con 
federate  paper-money.  I  told  him  I  would  sell  him  as 
many  as  he  wanted,  and  would  gather  them  in  two 
days.  So  off  we  started  for  the  ranch,  but  got  benighted 
twelve  miles  from  it ;  and  as  it  was  pitch  dark,  and  there 
was  no  road,  had  to  camp  on  the  prairie. 

Sunday  we  rested,  as  I  always  did  when  possible  ;  but 
on  Monday  morning  Thompson  and  I  started  driving, 
with  the  Mexicans,  and  by  midday  on  Tuesday  had 
three  hundred  splendid  fat  beeves  penned.  My  cattle, 
running  over  such  a  great  range,  were  almost  wild,  and 
it  was  exciting  work  driving  them,  as  well  as  uncommon 
hard  riding. 

My  man  picked  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  agreed  to 
my  price,  $75  (paper)  a  head  ;  but  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  $1  specie  was  worth  about  $6  paper.  Having 
got  the  cattle  together  for  him,  I  found  the  confounded 
fellow  had  left  his  money  at  Uvalde,  and  I  had  to  ride 
back  there  with  him  to  get  it.  There  I  met  Captains 


272        THE  FOUR    MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

Rabb  and  Dix,  who  told  me  their  companies  were  in 
camp  at  Black- Water  Hole  on  the  Frio,  and  were  about 
to  be  disbanded  with  the  object  of  making  one  company 
out  of  the  two,  for  frontier  service.  They  gave  me  a 
cordial  invitation  to  go  over  with  them,  and  stay  till 
the  reorganisation  was  completed,  when  probably  I 
might  pick  up  some  recruits.  Dix  was  a  particularly 
good  fellow,  and  I  gladly  accepted.  Arrived  at  the 
camp,  I  found  it  was  on  the  identical  spot  where,  four 
months  before,  as  previously  related,  the  Indians  had 
surprised,  killed,  and  mutilated  two  unfortunate  settlers. 
This  had  happened  only  a  day  or  two  before  the  seven 
Comanches  gave  my  comrade  and  myself  such  a  chivy 
across  the  prairie,  and  no  doubt  it  was  the  handiwork 
of  the  same  gentry. 

Dix  had  quite  a  budget  of  newspapers  in  camp,  which 
I  read  most  eagerly  ;  for  I  had  had  no  news  of  the  outside 
world  for  weeks,  and  under  such  conditions  a  newspaper 
is  such  a  treat  as  stay-at-home  folks,  who  get  their 
paper  regularly  every  morning,  can  hardly  realise.  From 
them  it  was  that  I  learned  the  news  of  Magruder's  gallant- 
feat  of  arms  at  Galveston. 

I  stayed  on  with  my  friends  a  few  days,  and  then, 
having  picked  up  three  or  four  recruits,  returned  to  the 
ranch.  There  I  found  that  one  of  my  best  Mexicans,  a 
young  fellow  named  Antonio,  had  been  foully  murdered 
by  a  party  of  cow-hunters  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
place.  The  story  is  so  characteristic  of  the  utter  law 
lessness  of  the  frontier,  and  of  the  callous  brutality  of 
the  frontiersmen,  that  I  think  I  must  give  it,  as  shortly 
as  possible. 

It  is  the  custom  in  a  cattle  country  like  Western 
Texas,  where  stock  runs  almost  wild  over  vast  areas, 
to  hold  periodically  what  are  called  "  long  hunts." 
These  last  sometimes  for  several  weeks,  and  great  herds 
of  cattle  are  collected,  from  which  the  respective  owners 
cut  out  their  own  property,  and  drive  them  home.  Each 


ANTONIO    THE    MEXICAN  273 

ranch  sends  as  many  hands  as  can  be  spared,  to  help 
in  the  drive. 

Antonio  was  the  smartest,  best  hand  we  had,  and 
a  favourite  with  everybody,  from  his  willingness  and 
cheeriness.  Thompson  then  sent  him,  and  another 
Mexican,  to  help  on  this  occasion. 

It  seems  that  early  in  the  hunt  a  small  stock-owner, 
of  more  than  doubtful  reputation,  named  Maccay,  lost 
his  six-shooter,  and  pitched  upon  Antonio  as  the  thief. 
The  unfortunate  boy  had  often  been  left  in  charge  of  the 
ranch  when  he  might  have  gone  off  with  as  much  as  a 
thousand  dollars,  besides  arms  and  other  things ;  more 
over  he  had  a  six-shooter  of  his  own,  and  being,  as  I  believe, 
innocent,  indignantly  denied  the  charge.  As  he  would  not 
confess,  the  brutes  put  a  rope  round  his  neck,  after  dis 
arming  him,  threw  the  end  over  a  branch,  and  hoisted  him 
off  the  ground  several  times,  until,  what  with  the  torture 
and  the  fear  of  death,  he  confessed,  not  that  he  had 
stolen  the  pistol  himself,  but  had  seen  a  strange  Mexican 
take  it,  and  hide  it  where  he  could  find  it  if  they  would 
unloose  him,  and  promise  not  to  kill  him. 

This  they  did,  but  of  course  the  poor  lad  couldn't 
find  it,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  it  hadn't  been 
stolen.  Then  he  offered  to  give  them  his  own  pistol, 
which  was  quite  as  good  as  the  lost  one,  and  to  pay 
them  any  money  they  asked,  as  soon  as  he  got  back  to 
my  ranch. 

But  all  to  no  purpose.  They  kept  him  tied  for  a 
couple  of  days,  and  then  Maccay  and  two  more  said  they 
would  take  him  back  to  the  ranch,  and  left  the  rest  of 
the  party,  ostensibly  for  that  purpose.  They  took  him 
to  within  about  six  miles  of  the  ranch,  and  then,  having 
some  sort  of  an  excuse  for  a  murder,  couldn't  resist  the 
temptation,  and  turned  aside  into  the  almost  impene 
trable  chaparral,  and  there  hanged  him.  Two  days  after 
the  hanging,  the  pistol  Antonio  was  supposed  to  have 
stolen  was  found  where  it  had  been  accidentally  dropped  ! 

18 


274        THE    FOUR    MEXICAN    DESERTERS 

I  was  furious  when  this  outrage  came  to  ray  ears,  but 
it  was  impossible  for  me  to  punish  the  offenders  single- 
handed  ;  and  my  comrades  of  the  company,  who  would 
have  helped  me,  were  far  away  on  the  Rio  Grande.  It 
was  worse  than  useless  to  seek  redress  from  the  authorities, 
for  law  and  justice  did  not  exist,  or  at  any  rate  could  not 
be  moved  to  action,  as  I  knew  full  well.  This  being  so, 
and  I  being  determined  that,  if  possible,  these  brutal 
murderers  should  not  go  unpunished,  I  was  constrained 
to  try  to  put  old  Asa  Minshul  and  his  Vigilance  Com 
mittee  on  their  track.  Accordingly  I  rode  into  San 
Antonio,  saw  the  old  rascal  at  his  house,  and  told  him 
my  story.  He  at  once  admitted  that  some  hanging  ought 
to  be  done,  and  he  would  see  to  it,  if  the  murderers  came 
into  town.  To  send  any  of  his  myrmidons  out  to  the 
Frio  was  too  much  of  an  undertaking,  to  punish  the 
murderers  of  a  mere  Mexican  boy.  If  they  had  hanged 
an  American,  it  would  have  been  different,  and  he  would 
have  done  the  job  with  pleasure — which  I  quite  believed. 

Before  we  parted  he  advised  me,  most  strongly,  to  get 
leave  from  Dunn  to  take  out  half  a  dozen  of  my  com 
rades  and  do  the  hanging  myself,  adding,  with  a  horrible 
leering  wink  :  "  It's  a  job  after  his  own  heart ;  he's  sure 
to  give  you  leave."  And  so  we  parted  ;  he  cheerily 
promising  me  that  my  friends  shouldn't  want  for  a  rope, 
if  they  came  within  his  reach. 

On  that  ride  down  to  San  Antonio,  whilst  I  was  crossing 
a  brushy  prairie  about  twelve  miles  from  the  ranch,  1 
suddenly  came  on  a  party  of  four  mounted  men,  whom 
at  the  first  glance  I  took  to  be  Indians,  but  soon  saw  were 
Mexicans.  They  saw  me  at  the  same  moment,  and  made 
a  run  for  it.  Seeing  there  must  be  something  wrong, 
I  set  off  after  them  and,  my  horse  being  fast  and  fresh, 
whilst  theirs  were  ridden  out,  soon  overhauled  them. 
Six-shooter  in  hand,  I  halted  them,  and  saw,  to  my 
relief,  that  the  rifle  each  man  carried  was  strapped  fast  to 
the  saddle.  Dismounting  them,  I  made  them  hand  me 


FOR    EL    AMOR    DE    BIOS!  275 

the  rifles  one  by  one,  and  then  demanded  who  they  were, 
and  what  they  were  doing. 

After  a  deal  of  prevarication  they  at  last  confessed 
they  were  deserters  from  the  Confederate  service,  running 
for  Mexico.  Down  on  their  knees  they  went,  and  begged 
and  prayed,  as  only  Mexicans  can,  that  I  would  let  them 
go.  They  would  gladly  leave  their  horses  and  arms, 
and  everything  they  had,  with  me,  if  only  I  wouldn't 
take  them  into  San  Antonio  :  "  For  el  amor  de  Dios,  y 
todos  los  santos,  seiior,"  they  pleaded.  My  duty  un 
doubtedly  was  to  take  them  in  and  hand  them  over  to 
the  authorities  for  trial  by  court-martial ;  but  then  it  was 
a  hundred  to  one  that  the  bloodthirsty  mob  would  seize 
them  before  I  could  do  so,  and  hang  them  in  the  plaza. 

I  pondered  these  things  in  my  mind  for  a  minute  or 
two,  whilst  the  poor  devils  still  knelt  and  prayed,  and 
then  I  resolved  to  let  them  go.  Never  were  miserable 
mortals  more  relieved  and  thankful  than  they  when  I 
told  them  they  could  go.  They  called  down  the  blessings 
of  all  the  saints  they  knew  of  on  my  head,  and  then, 
handing  over  to  them  the  few  provisions  they  had  in 
their  malletas,  I  gave  them  the  order  to  march.  When 
they  had  gone  a  short  distance  I  dismounted,  fastened  the 
rifles  again  on  the  saddles,  and  set  off,  driving  my  caval 
cade  before  me,  on  the  road  to  San  Antonio. 

My  arrival  there  with  my  plunder  caused  some  little 
stir,  and  many  were  the  questions  asked  by  the  boys  as 
to  how  I  had  made  the  capture.  When  I  told  them  the 
facts,  which  I  did,  except  that  I  said  the  prisoners  had 
escaped  in  the  night,  most  of  them  shook  their  heads 
incredulously,  being  firmly  convinced  that  I  had  killed 
them,  as  they  themselves  would  certainly  have  done. 
It  was  a  terrible  state  of  affairs  which  then  existed  in 
Western  Texas  ;  for  it  had  come  to  this,  that  it  was  the 
rule  to  take  a  man's  life,  if  only  any  kind  of  pretext  could 
be  found  for  so  doing.  I  never  heard  or  read  of  any 
thing  like  it,  except  perhaps  in  the  French  Revolution. 


276        THE    FOUR    MEXICAN   DESERTERS 

When  I  reported  myself  to  the  Government  officials 
to  hand  over  the  horses  and  arms,  I  was  told  they  knew 
nothing  about  them  and,  if  I  couldn't  find  the  owners, 
I  had  best  keep  them  myself  ;  for,  as  far  as  they  could  see, 
I  had  the  best  claim  to  them.  So  after  a  time,  when 
no  claimant  had  appeared,  I  sold  the  rifles  and  sent  the 
horses  down  to  the  ranch. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

ABOUT  the  middle  of  January  and  a  day  or  two  after 
my  return  to  San  Antonio,  two  companies  of  our  regiment 
were  ordered  to  march  to  Brownsville,  on  the  lower  Rio 
Grande,  opposite  to  Matamoras,  there  to  join  a  force 
under  General  Wasp  holding  that  post  against  a 
threatened  attack  by  the  Yankees. 

I  found  on  rejoining  that  some  change  had  taken  place 
for  the  better  in  the  command,  but  I  was  still  very  dis 
satisfied  with  it  and  anxious  to  leave  it.  Of  this  how 
ever  there  was  no  immediate  chance,  so  I  had  to  do  the 
weary  march  of  about  three  hundred  miles  to  Brownsville 
with  my  company.  The  worst  of  it  was  that,  with  a 
commander  like  General  Wasp,  and  the  staff  of  incom 
petent  rascals  serving  under  him,  there  was  but  scant 
prospect  of  seeing  any  real  fighting,  or  striking  a  blow 
in  our  country's  cause.  Their  real  object  in  moving  on 
Brownsville  was  the  better  to  carry  on  their  speculations 
in  cotton,  and  to  rob  the  Confederate  Government, 
whose  one  available  asset  it  was,  by  sending  it  across 
the  Rio  Grande  into  Mexico  for  cash,  which  they  put 
into  their  own  pockets,  as  I  will  explain  further  on. 

The  weather  was  awful,  and  the  rain  incessant,  so  the 
march  was  not  a  picnic  ;  but  most  evils  have  their  com 
pensation,  and  in  this  case  we  didn't  go  short  of  water, 
and  generally  had  good  grass  for  the  horses. 

How  wonderfully  keen  is  the  Hebrew's  scent  of  a 
profit ! 

In  these  troublous  times  no  small  number  of  them 

277 


278  THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

appeared  in  Western  Texas,  though  goodness  knows 
where  they  sprang  from.  Probably,  as  the  buzzards 
wind  carrion,  so  they  scented  the  corruption  which  was 
so  rife  in  the  State,  and  saw  their  profit  in  it.  On  this 
march  we  had  to  cross  a  sandy  waste  of  some  miles  in 
extent  where,  even  in  this  wet  season,  there  was  no  water, 
save  in  a  muddy  hole,  far  away  from  human  habitation. 
Hard  by  this  we  found  a  Dutch  son  of  Israel  had  literally 
pitched  his  tent,  with  the  humane  intention  of  supplying 
the  hunger  and  thirst  of  passing  troops  with  hard  crackers 
and  cheese,  to  be  washed  down  with  "  rifle  whiskey," 
the  latter  far  more  deadly  in  execution  than  most  of  the 
weapons  after  which  it  was  named.  Abraham  however 
was  not  entirely  disinterested  in  the  matter,  for  the  scale 
of  prices  he  proposed  to  charge  for  his  viands  was,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  exorbitant.  Moreover  he  was  apparently 
infected  by  the  poison  of  Abolitionism,  for  he  stoutly 
refused  to  accept  payment  in  good  Confederate  paper  ; 
nothing  but  hard  dollars  would  do  for  him.  At  this 
the  boys  were  highly  incensed,  for  I  don't  think  that  any 
of  them  had  so  much  as  a  single  specimen  of  that  com 
modity  about  him. 

The  majority  pronounced  him  a  malignant  traitor,  and 
were  for  hanging  him  on  the  spot.  That  they  would  have 
done  so  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt,  had  there  been 
a  tree  convenient  for  the  purpose.  But  there  wasn't 
one  within  several  miles  ;  so  Abraham's  person  was 
spared,  but  his  goods  were  taken,  payment  being  made 
in  paper  money.  He  was  amply  avenged,  I  believe,  by 
the  intolerable  thirst  produced  by  his  salt  cheese  and 
poisonous  whiskey. 

About  six  miles  from  Brownsville  we  pitched  camp,  there 
to  await  the  arrival  of  the  rest  of  the  command.  Close 
by  was  a  long,  narrow  lagoon,  connecting  with  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  on  it,  and  in  its  reedy,  swampy  margins,  the 
biggest  show  of  waterfowl  I  ever  beheld.  Ducks  of  all 
sorts,  teal,  widgeon,  snipe,  plover,  coots,  and  an  immense 


BROWNSVILLE    TOWN  279 

variety  of  wading  birds,  were  everywhere  to  be  seen  ; 
but  none  of  us  possessed  what  my  comrades  called  a 
"  scatter-gun,"  so  we  couldn't  take  much  toll  of  them. 

It  was  now  the  end  of  January,  and  spring  was  coming 
on  apace  ;  the  season  down  near  the  Gulf  being  quite  a 
month  in  advance  of  the  western  part  of  the  State. 
There  the  trees  were  barely  budding,  whilst  here  many 
flowering  shrubs,  especially  the  Wisaches,  were  blooming 
freely,  filling  the  air  with  a  delightful  perfume. 

Next  morning  some  of  us  rode  into  the  town,  and  found 
it  quite  "  a  place,"  doing  a  large  business  with  Matamoras, 
the  Mexican  town  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  ; 
indeed,  since  the  outbreak  of  war  it  was  only  via  the  Rio 
Grande  that  any  goods  could  get  into  the  State.  The 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  were  Mexicans,  but  there 
was  a  good  sprinkling  of  Americans,  and  the  town  boasted 
a  commodious  market-house,  three  churches,  and  a 
well-built  fort  on  the  high  bank  of  the  river.  Several 
small  steamboats,  plying  to  and  fro  across  the  stream, 
added  to  the  bustle  of  the  scene,  and  indeed  it  seemed 
quite  a  metropolis  to  eyes  so  long  accustomed  to  the  wild 
solitudes  of  the  frontier. 

That  night  there  was  to  be  a  great  "  fandango  "  held 
in  a  plaza  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  I  must  needs 
go  and  see  it,  with  some  acquaintances  I  had  made. 

Round  the  square  stood  rows  of  orange  and  china 
trees,  under  which  were  stalls,  or  booths,  for  the  sale  of 
sweetmeats,  light  refreshments,  and  liquor — especially 
the  latter.  Gambling  was  going  on  everywhere  :  under 
the  trees,  at  tables  set  out  for  the  purpose,  and  in  booths. 
Monte  of  course  was  the  great  game,  and  money  seemed 
changing  hands  freely,  there  apparently  being  no  dearth 
of  hard  cash  amongst  these  gentry.  In  an  open  space  in 
the  centre  of  the  plaza  some  two  hundred  couples  were  danc 
ing  to  the  music  of  a  feeble  string  band.  Waltzes  were 
the  favourite  dance  ;  and  as  all  Mexicans,  both  men  and 
women,  are  fine  performers,  it  was  quite  a  pretty  sight. 


280  THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

Matamoras,  to  which  I  crossed  in  the  steam  terry  next 
day,  was  a  thriving  town  too,  but  purely  Mexican,  the 
cathedral  and  the  best  houses  being  built  of  "  adobe  " 
(sunburnt  clay)  and  painted  in  various  colours.  The 
streets  and  plazas  were  wide  and  well  laid  out,  with 
orange  and  china  trees  bordering  them,  but  dirty  and 
evil-smelling  to  a  degree.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  Mexico, 
the  chief  occupation  of  the  natives  seemed  to  be  gam 
bling.  One  wonders  where  and  how  they  get  the  money 
they  stake  ;  they  certainly  don't  appear  to  work  for  it. 

Many  of  the  houses  in  the  main  plaza,  and  the  cathedral 
itself,  were  bespattered  with  bullet-marks  and  other 
signs  of  the  severe  righting  which  took  place  the  previous 
year  at  the  election  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Nueva  Leon,  when  several  hundreds  of  the  combatants 
were  killed.  Such  scenes  were  common  enough  at  Mexican 
elections  in  those  days,  but  now  that  wonderful  man 
President  Porfirio  Diaz  has  changed  all  that,  and  order 
and  good  government  prevail  where  chaos  reigned. 

In  Matamoras  I  met  several  Northerners  I  had  known 
in  Texas,  who  had  cleared  out  for  political  reasons.  From 
them  I  got  a  sight  of  some  of  the  New  York  newspapers 
and  read  their  version  of  events,  which  I  need  hardly 
say,  was  very  different  from  that  of  the  Southern  press. 
Vicksburg  was  still  holding  out,  but  the  long  siege  was 
telling  on  the  garrison,  which  could  hope  for  no  help 
from  General  Lee,  who  had  his  hands  full  in  Virginia. 
Evidently  the  expectation  in  the  North  was  that  when  the 
place  fell,  and  the  whole  length  of  the  Mississippi  was  open 
to  their  gunboats,  the  South  would  be  brought  to  her 
knees.  I  confess  it  seemed  to  me  the  supposition  was 
correct,  for  when  Vicksburg  was  taken  by  the  Yankees 
the  Confederacy  would  be  cut  in  half,  and  the  struggle 
must  end. 

The  fall  of  Vicksburg,  which  soon  after  took  place, 
was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  South,  but  the  end  was  not 
yet.  Both  friends  and  foes  had  failed  to  realise  what 


NORTHERN    NEWSPAPERS  281 

the  indomitable  courage  and  wealth  of  resources  of  Lee 
could  do,  in  face  of  the  overwhelming  odds  against  him, 
and  no  one,  especially  in  the  North,  dreamed  he  could 
hold  his  own,  as  he  did,  for  more  than  a  year  longer. 

The  newspapers  in  the  South  had  constantly  buoyed 
us  up  with  assurances  that  the  North  was  heartily  sick 
of  the  war,  and  would  shortly  make  peace,  on  terms  such 
as  we  could  accept.  Eagerly  I  scanned  every  Northern 
paper  I  could  get  hold  of  for  any  indications  of  such  a 
feeling.  There  were  none.  All  declared  the  war  must 
be  prosecuted  to  the  bitter  end,  at  any  sacrifice  of  blood 
and  treasure,  till  the  Secession  was  ended  by  uncon 
ditional  surrender.  No  hope  of  peace  could  be  found  : 
only  victory  or  ruin  lay  before  us,  and  who  could  doubt 
which  it  was  awaited  us  ? 

As  I  had  fully  expected,  there  was  no  sign  of  any 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  Yankees  against  us  ;  but 
we  remained  on,  some  of  us  in  the  fort  and  barracks, 
and  the  rest  encamped  about  half  a  mile  below  the  town, 
for  many  weeks.  There  was  no  real  soldiering  to  be  done, 
and  I  spent  my  time,  when  not  actually  on  duty,  in 
hunting  and  fishing,  or  visiting  friends  in  Brownsville 
and  Matamoras.  One  result  of  our  being  so  long 
quartered  so  close  to  the  Mexican  border  was  that  we 
lost  a  very  large  number  of  men  by  desertion.  It  was 
so  easy  for  those  who  were  sick  of  soldiering  to  slip  across 
the  river,  that  they  couldn't  resist  the  temptation. 
Patrols  were  kept  on  the  watch  on  our  side  to  stop  this, 
but  without  much  effect,  though  one  of  them  mistook 
me  for  a  deserter,  and  nearly  shot  me  in  his  zeal  for  the 
service. 

One  day  I  left  my  valuable  horse,  one  of  the  best  I  ever 
had  on  the  other  side,  in  camp,  whilst  spending  the  day 
in  Matamoras,  and  when  1  returned  at  night  it  had 
disappeared.  I  didn't  know  for  certain  it  had  been 
stolen,  though  probably  it  had  been,  since  horse-thieves, 
and  every  other  sort  of  thief,  abounded  in  that  no-man's- 


282  THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

land.  In  this  uncertainty  I  hunted  for  it  several  days, 
up  and  down  the  river,  but  finding  no  trace  of  it  had  to 
provide  myself  with  another  mount.  This  was  no  easy 
matter,  but  at  last  I  found  a  horse  in  Matamoras  which 
had  been  the  notorious  Mexican  guerilla  Cavajal's  charger, 
and  bought  him  in  default  of  a  better. 

I  hadn't  had  him  many  days  before  he  went  lame, 
having  apparently  strained  his  shoulder.  A  swim  often 
does  good  in  such  cases,  so  I  stripped  and  rode  my  horse 
into  the  river. 

I  had  got  some  few  yards  out  from  the  bank,  heading 
as  though  I  were  going  to  cross  the  river,  when  from  a 
point  about  a  hundred  yards  up  stream  a  zealous  patrol 
let  drive  at  me  with  his  rifle.  The  bullet  whizzed  past 
my  head  too  near  to  be  pleasant,  and  I  at  once  turned 
my  horse  for  the  bank,  shouting  to  the  fellow  not  to  fire. 
Whether  he  heard  me  or  not  I  can't  say,  but  he  paid  no 
attention,  and  fired  two  more  shots  before  I  could  scramble 
ashore.  Fortunately  for  me  my  zealous  friend  was  a 
rank  bad  shot,  or  he  must  have  plugged  me,  especially 
as  he  was  doing  his  target  practice  lying  down.  I  need 
scarcely  say  I  never  swam  my  horse  in  the  river  again 
as  long  as  we  remained  in  camp. 

One  day  we  all  went  up  to  Brownsville  to  see  the  3rd 
Texas  Regiment  inspected  by  General  Wasp.  The  men 
turned  out  very  well,  and  were  a  fine  body,  though  of 
mixed  nationalities,  for  the  regiment  was  made  up  of 
American,  Irish,  Dutch,  and  Mexican  companies.  The 
officers  were  rather  a  motley  crew,  having  been,  as 
usual,  appointed  by  political  influence  rather  than  for 
their  military  qualities.  The  Colonel  commanding,  by 
the  name  of  Locky,  was  a  doctor  in  some  practice  in 
San  Antonio.  A  strong  Secessionist,  he  had  been  a 
member  of  the  State  Convention,  and  thus  got  his  ap 
pointment.  Personally  he  was  a  very  pleasant  fellow, 
though  a  thirsty  one,  but  was  entirely  ignorant  of  military 
matters.  The  second  in  command,  Colonel  Bushel,  was 


THE    WRECK    OF    THE    BRIG  283 

an   old   Prussian   officer   who   understood   his   business, 
and  was  the  only  efficient  officer  in  the  corps. 

The  Major,  a  man  named  White,  had  served  some 
years,  so  he  said,  in  the  U.S.  Navy  ;  he  was  an 
habitual  drunkard,  and  neither  knew  nor  cared  anything 
about  soldiering.  The  senior  Captain,  Kaupmann,  was 
a  heavy,  besotted-looking  lager-beer  Dutchman,  a  stone 
mason  by  trade,  who  had  got  himself  elected,  no  one 
knew  how,  and  was  rarely  quite  sober.  The  others 
were  for  the  most  part  barkeepers,  or  people  of  that 
class,  and  wholly  unfitted  for  command. 

I  have  given  these  descriptions  to  show  how  affairs 
were  managed,  or  rather  mismanaged,  in  Texas,  far 
away  from  the  control  of  the  Confederate  executive  ; 
of  course  at  headquarters  things  must  have  been  very 
different,  or  the  collapse  must  have  come  much  sooner 
than  it  did. 

The  coast  of  the  Gulf  is  subject  to  very  severe  storms 
of  wind,  which  rise  at  times  almost  to  the  force  of  a 
hurricane,  and  make  life  in  camp  a  perfect  misery  by 
filling  the  air  with  choking  dust.  In  one  of  these  a 
Yankee  brig,  laden  with  clothing  and  stores  of  all  sorts 
for  the  Northern  troops  in  New  Orleans,  came  ashore 
on  our  side  of  the  river.  Company  B  was  sent  down 
to  guard  the  wreck,  which  was  breaking  up  and  washing 
ashore  all  sorts  of  goods.  At  first  the  boys  had  a  "  high 
old  time,"  and  many  of  them  secured  plunder  enough 
to  have  set  up  "  store  "  on  their  own  account.  But 
presently  this  was  stopped,  and  the  rest  of  the  things 
sent  up  to  Brownsville,  where  they  were  confiscated  as 
the  property  of  the  enemy. 

At  first  the  order  was  that  everything  was  to  be  sold 
by  auction  for  cash  ;  no  paper-money  to  be  accepted. 
This  was  rather  more  than  the  soldiers  would  stand  : 
they  were  paid  in  paper,  and  it  was  beyond  a  joke  for 
the  authorities  to  refuse  to  accept  it.  Accordingly  the 
order  was  rescinded,  and  then  the  Hebrew  speculators, 


284  THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

in  collusion  with  our  General,  swarmed  to  the  auction 
to  buy  up  everything  worth  the  having.  But  the  boys 
wouldn't  have  this  either,  and  promptly  ran  them  off 
the  premises,  as  they  did  a  lieutenant  of  the  3rd  Texas 
who  started  buying  for  the  expelled  Jews.  Our  ex 
cellent  commander  intervened  to  stop  the  expulsions, 
but  the  boys  were  in  no  mood  to  be  trifled  with,  and 
wouldn't  listen  to  him. 

The  goods  not  sold  that  day  were  sent  back  to  store, 
and  the  clothing,  of  which  we  all  stood  in  great  need,  it 
was  given  out,  would  be  distributed  fairly  amongst  the 
different  companies.  That  very  night  it  was  reported  the 
store  had  been  broken  into,  and  the  bulk  of  the  clothing 
stolen.  The  real  thieves  were  Captain  Kaupmann  and 
his  friends  :  the  supposed  burglary  was  only  a  blind ! 

But  the  most  laughable  thing  was  when  we  were 
allowed  into  the  store  to  select  one  garment  apiece  from 
the  remnant  left  by  these  rascals.  After  long  search 
I  found  a  decent  coat  without  any  name  on  it,  for  already 
almost  everything  worth  having  had  been  appropriated. 
I  was  walking  away  with  it,  when  Captain  Kaupmann 
asked  what  I  was  doing  with  his  coat !  I  told  him  I 
had  already  counted  sixteen  garments  with  his  name 
on,  and  I  thought  that  was  enough  even  for  him  ;  besides, 
this  one  had  no  name  on  it.  Blandly  he  smiled,  the 
old  Dutch  thief,  and  said  :  "  Gif  you  vill  loke  inside  de 
slief,  you  vill  zee  my  names."  Sure  enough  the  old 
villain  had  pinned  it  inside,  so  that  it  might  not  be 
removed.  I  threw  it  at  him  without  further  parley, 
and  left  the  store  in  disgust. 

I  have  previously  referred  to  the  robbery  and  swindling 
carried  on  by  our  General  and  his  crew  in  relation  to 
the  sale  of  cotton,  and  perhaps  this  is  the  place  more 
fully  to  describe  the  method  or  methods,  for  they  had 
several,  by  which  they  managed  it. 

The  Confederate  Government  having  no  money, 
except  the  paper  currency  it  created,  paid  the  blockade 


COTTON    UNDER    MARTIAL    LAW  285 

runners,  who  brought  ammunition,  arms,  and  all  kinds 
of  supplies,  in  cotton  or  certificates  for  cotton.  In  the 
early  stages  of  the  war,  cotton  was  fairly  plentiful,  and 
the  paper-money  at,  or  about,  par.  Soon,  however,  it 
began  to  depreciate,  and  the  holders  of  cotton,  who  had 
at  first  taken  it  freely,  would  only  accept  it  at  an  ever- 
increasing  discount.  General  Wasp  then  proclaimed 
martial  law — illegally,  I  believe — in  Western  Texas,  and 
under  it  made  the  paper-money  legal  tender  at  par,  not 
only  for  cotton,  but  for  all  other  goods.  This  measure, 
supposed  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  Government,  was 
really  enforced  to  enable  his  agents  to  buy  the  cotton 
for  other  than  hard  cash.  Every  one,  at  first,  had  been 
allowed  to  take  cotton  into  Mexico,  which  was  the  only 
way  traders  could  obtain  goods.  Now  a  system  of 
permits  was  established,  and  these  were  only  given  on 
an  undertaking  on  the  part  of  the  holder  to  exchange 
his  cotton  for  goods,  to  be  brought  into  Texas. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  permits  were  given  to  the 
creatures  of  Wasp,  and  the  rest  of  the  ring,  and  to  no  one 
else.  These  gentry  bought  their  cotton  for  paper,  and 
sold  it  for  specie  in  Mexico.  They  bought  no  goods,  or 
at  least  only  such  as  suited  them,  and  put  the  dollars 
into  their  pockets,  less  the  heavy  percentage  they  had 
to  hand  over  to  their  patron. 

Many  of  these  people,  who  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  were  poor,  amassed  very  considerable  fortunes, 
made  in  this  manner. 

The  Confederate  Government,  finding  that  under  this 
regime  cotton  came  in  but  slowly,  whilst  it  was  urgently 
required  to  load  the  vessels  waiting  for  it  (at  one  time 
there  were  no  fewer  than  seventy  ships  lying  in  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  to  load  with  cotton),  appointed 
an  agent  with  extraordinary  powers  to  collect  it.  He 
was  empowered  to  impress  teams,  teamsters,  and  labourers, 
and  could  take  all  cotton  required  for  State  service,  at 
a  fixed  price,  payable  in  Confederate  paper. 


286  THE    COTTON-STEALERS 

Only  a  man  of  the  highest  character  and  of  proved 
probity  was  fitted  to  fill  such  an  office  as  this.  The 
man  selected,  no  doubt  through  local  influence,  a  New 
York  Jew  of  the  name  of  Warter,  was  of  the  worst  possible 
antecedents  ;  for  he  was  a  speculator  and  a  gambler, 
and  had  been  branded  by  public  advertisement  as  a 
coward  and  a  liar  !  The  teams  and  the  teamsters  he 
impressed,  to  the  great  loss  and  inconvenience  of  their 
owners,  and  the  large  sums  of  money  entrusted  to  him 
by  the  Government,  were  mainly  used  for  his  own  specu 
lations,  in  which  of  course  his  friends  shared. 

This  was  well  known  to  be  going  on  throughout  the 
State,  but  so  terrorised  were  the  people  by  the  rascals 
in  power  that  no  one  dared  to  take  any  steps  against 
them,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  they  carried  on  their  robberies 
with  impunity  up  to  the  very  last.  To  be  sure  they  all 
cleared  out  directly  the  "  break  up  "  was  known,  and 
before  the  rule  of  the  North  was  established  in  Texas  ; 
which  was  a  wise  precaution  on  their  part. 

The  ordinance  issued  by  General  Wasp,  under  martial 
law,  by  which  paper-money  was  made  legal  tender  at 
par,  had  never  been  very  strictly  enforced  except  for 
the  purchase  of  cotton,  and  when  it  had  served  its  pur 
pose,  was  withdrawn.  Immediately  on  this  the  value 
fell  away,  day  by  day,  till  at  last  one  had  to  pay  fabulous 
prices  in  paper  for  everything  :  $30  for  a  very  common 
pair  of  shoes  ;  $10  per  bushel  for  corn  ;  $10  per  pound 
for  coffee  ;  $500  for  a  very  ordinary  horse  ;  $2J  per 
pound  for  sugar  ;  $75  for  a  beef-steer  ;  $5  for  a  water 
melon,  and  so  on,  and  so  on. 

Perhaps  I  have  dwelt  at  too  great  length  on  this 
disgraceful  cotton-selling  business,  but  it  made  a  great 
impression  on  my  mind  at  the  time,  as  an  instance  of 
how  "  the  wicked  prosper."  One  more  story  I  must  how 
ever  tell  relating  to  it,  which  for  brazen  effrontery  beats 
everything  in  my  experience.  But  it  is  too  long  for  the 
end  of  a  chapter,  and  must  be  reserved  for  the  next  one. 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

I  MUST  premise  that  the  story  I  promised  to  tell  at  the 
end  of  the  last  chapter  was  not  part  of  my  own  personal 
experience,  for  I  had  left  Dunn's  command  and  the  Rio 
Grande  before  the  ridiculous  farce  was  enacted.  It  was, 
however,  told  to  me  by  friends  who  were  eye-witnesses, 
and  I  believe  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  truth.  Moreover, 
it  was  the  talk  of  the  whole  State,  provoking  mirth  in 
some,  and  shame  in  others,  each  according  to  his  nature. 

It  was  well  into  the  autumn  of  1863,  and  Messrs.  Wasp, 
Dunn  and  Co.  had  done  good  business  with  their  cotton- 
stealing,  but  still  had  several  bales  left,  which  they  had 
not  been  able  to  get  across  into  Mexico. 

Now  probably  General  Wasp's  disgraceful  conduct  was 
actuated  by  two  motives  :  funk  for  his  own  precious 
skin,  and  a  desire  to  cover  up  his  wholesale  peculations. 
Which  was  the  more  potent  of  the  two,  is  hard  to  say  ; 
probably  the  last  one,  though  he  was  undoubtedly  a 
coward  without  shame. 

One  morning  a  terrified  Mexican  ranchero  came 
galloping  into  Brownsville  with  a  report  that  the  Yankees 
had  landed  in  force  at  Boca  del  Rio,  a  small  port  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  were  marching,  horse,  foot 
and  artillery,  on  the  town.  At  once  all  was  confusion 
and  terror  in  the  place,  and  many  of  the  officers  were 
for  evacuating  it  forthwith.  But  even  General  Wasp 
couldn't  do  that ;  so  he  sent  out  the  gallant  Captain 
Dick  Turner,  with  his  company  of  Partizan  Rangers, 

287 


288  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

to  reconnoitre  and  report ;  Wasp  and  Dunn  remaining 
in  Brownsville  "  between  a  shake  and  a  sweat  "  whether 
to  fight  or  run.  Turner  was  a  windy,  gassy  fellow  who, 
with  his  tongue,  could  whip  a  whole  regiment  of  the 
despised  Yankees  unaided.  Certainly  he  was  a  poltroon, 
but  he  was  one  of  Dunn's  basest  creatures,  and  no  doubt 
was  deep  in  the  confidence  both  of  that  worthy  and  of  the 
General.  Therefore  it  is  not  clear  whether  the  report  he 
brought  back  was  the  offspring  of  his  fears,  or  whether 
it  was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  his  superiors. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  he  returned  the  second  day,  in  hot 
haste,  with  the  report  that  he  had  sighted  a  force  of 
Yankee  cavalry  and  artillery,  several  thousands  strong, 
marching  on  Brownsville.  So  overwhelming  was  their 
strength  that  it  would  be  madness  to  attempt  to  hold 
the  place  ;  the  only  chance  to  save  themselves  was 
to  clear  out  at  once,  which  he  should  certainly  do  him 
self,  whatever  any  one  else  did.  Some  of  the  Rangers 
with  him  told  me  afterwards  that  all  they  saw  was  a 
big  herd  of  cattle  being  driven  over  the  prairie  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening,  and  that  it  was  these  that  Turner 
mistook,  or  chose  to  mistake,  for  Yankee  cavalry  ! 

In  the  panic  and  excitement  that  followed  on  Turner's 
report,  a  regular  drunken  spree  set  in,  every  one, 
from  the  General  downwards,  being  more  or  less  drunk. 
Orders  were  given  to  fire  the  barracks,  Government 
stores,  buildings,  and  cotton.  As  I  have  said,  there 
wasn't  much  of  the  latter  remaining,  but  what  a  splendid 
opportunity  the  burning  of  it  gave  these  rascals  to 
cover  up  their  frauds  on  the  Government  !  What 
they  had  failed  to  account  for  had  been  burnt  to  save 
it  from  the  Yankees  !  So  unfortunate  !  But  what 
else  could  they  do  ? 

Order  and  discipline  were  at  an  end,  and  the  various 
regiments  and  detachments  began  to  clear  out  on 
their  own  hook.  The  burning  went  on  merrily,  Wasp 
and  Dunn  lending  a  hand  themselves,  and  all  the  while 


A    STRATEGIC    MOVEMENT    TO    THE    REAR  289 

the  flames  from  the  beautiful  barracks  lit  up  a  scene 
of  disgraceful  orgie. 

By  this  time  the  Yankees  were  said  to  be  close  at  hand, 
and  it  was  high  time  for  the  gallant  General  to  save 
his  precious  life.  He  was  probably  worth  about 
$100,000,  mostly  made  during  the  last  six  months. 
The  cash  was  safe  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  he  couldn't  afford  to  be  killed  by  these  murdering 
Yankees  ! 

It  was  now  that  he  made  what  the  wags  called  his 
celebrated  strategic  movement  to  the  rear,  and  in  an 
ambulance  drawn  by  four  good  horses,  attended  by  a 
small  escort,  never  called  a  halt  till  he  reached  Kemp's 
ranch  on  the  San  Gertrudes,  125  miles  from  Brownsville ! 
He  was  followed  by  some  of  the  soldiers  and  a  small 
crowd  of  civilians  ;  but  these  unfortunates  couldn't 
keep  up  with  his  headlong  flight,  for  he  had  relays  of 
horses,  and  they  had  none. 

The  best  of  the  joke,  if  joke  there  can  be  in  such  a 
disgraceful  episode  as  this,  was  that  not  a  single  Yankee 
had  landed  at  Boca  del  Rio  when  all  this  took  place  ; 
and  it  was  not  till  Wasp  and  his  straggling  command  had 
got  safely  back  to  San  Antonio  that  a  small  force  did 
land.  Even  then  it  approached  Brownsville  slowly, 
and  with  great  caution,  believing  that  the  story  of  its 
evacuation  was  a  trap  to  draw  them  on.  Was  there 
ever  such  a  General,  ever  such  an  exploit,  since  war 
was  a  trade  ? 

But  I  must  give  one  more  of  his  exploits,  and  then  I 
have  done  with  him,  for  some  time  at  any  rate. 

It  was  about  a  couple  of  months  before  the  hurried 
exit  from  Brownsville,  that  a  young  half-bred  Mexican 
named  Vidal  had,  by  Dunn's  influence,  been  given  the 
command  of  thirty  Mexicans,  drafted  from  various 
companies  of  Rangers,  and  sent  on  scouting  duty  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande.  This  too  was  after  I 
had  left  the  command.  This  man  had  served  in  my 

19 


290  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

own  company,  and  I  knew  him  well  as  a  vain,  trifling 
fellow  without  any  experience,  who  cared  for  nothing 
but  gambling  and  drinking.  But  he  was  son-in-law  of 
a  man  named  Kennedy,  who  had  amassed  a  fortune 
speculating  both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  and 
who  was  connected  with  Wasp  and  Dunn  in  their  cotton 
transactions.  This  was  of  course  enough  to  get  him  the 
billet. 

About  this  time  Dunn  had,  whilst  yet  money  was  to 
be  picked  up  at  Brownsville,  to  his  great  disgust,  been 
ordered  off  to  Eastern  Texas  with  his  command.  He 
moved  out  of  the  place,  and  camped  about  eight  miles 
off,  till  he  could  get  the  order  rescinded  (which  he  eventu 
ally  did),  and  this  left  the  garrison  rather  weak.  In  fact 
all  that  remained  were  General  Wasp's  personal  escort 
and  a  company  of  citizen  volunteers,  enrolled  for  home 
defence.  Vidal  knew  Dunn  had  been  ordered  away,  and, 
thinking  he  was  gone,  believed  Brownsville  to  be  in 
a  defenceless  state.  So  he  "  went  Fanti,"  and  played 
the  mischief  on  the  frontier. 

Dunn,  before  he  marched  out  to  his  camp,  sent  two 
couriers,  both  of  the  old  company  in  which  Vidal  had 
served,  down  to  his  camp,  to  order  him  to  rejoin  the 
command.  To  their  great  surprise,  they  met  him 
already  on  his  road  to  Brownsville  ;  but  he  explained 
that  he  had  already  received  the  order  by  a  messenger, 
and  was  on  his  way  there.  The  couriers,  who  were,  as 
I  have  said,  old  comrades  of  Vidal's,  suspected  nothing, 
and  of  course  turned  baok  with  the  party.  They  all 
rode  together,  apparently  on  the  most  friendly  terms, 
till  they  came  within  about  twelve  miles  of  the  post. 
Then  they  halted,  and  Vidal  invited  his  old  comrades  to 
have  a  drink  with  him ;  and,  whilst  they  were  taking  it, 
he  and  some  of  his  men  shot  both  of  the  poor  fellows  down. 

One  of  them,  named  Dashields,  a  friend  of  mine,  who 
had  joined  the  service  at  the  same  time  as  myself,  was 
the  only  son  of  an  old  army  officer,  who  at  the  time  of 


MUERTO    A   LOS    AMERICANOS!         291 

Secession  edited  a  paper  in  San  Antonio.  Him  the 
treacherous  villains  killed  on  the  spot.  The  other  man, 
though  sorely  wounded,  got  to  his  horse,  and  managed 
to  ride  into  Brownsville  before  his  pursuers.  He  arrived, 
speechless,  but  signed  for  pencil  and  paper  and  wrote 
his  tale  before  he  died. 

Dunn,  who  happened  to  have  come  into  the  town  from 
his  camp,  refused  to  believe  that  his  pet  could  have  been 
guilty  of  such  baseness,  but  averred  the  treachery  must 
be  the  work  of  guerillas,  or  a  party  of  marauding  Yankee 
cavalry.  However,  he  sent  orders  for  his  command  to 
march  back  to  the  post  forthwith,  and  sent  out  my 
friend  Jack  Vinton,  with  a  party  of  ten  men,  to  recon 
noitre  and  ascertain  what  Vidal  was  really  doing. 
Vinton  had  not  gone  far  before  he  encountered  the 
rascal  with  a  party  which  he  had  increased  to  about  one 
hundred  in  number,  by  picking  up  "  greasers,"  which 
can  always  be  done  along  the  Rio  Grande  when  any 
plunder  is  to  the  fore.  Vinton  of  course  couldn't  attack 
with  his  small  party,  and  Vidal  seems  to  have  come  to 
a  halt,  in  some  uncertainty  as  to  his  future  movements, 
supposing  that  the  escape  of  the  wounded  man  would 
have  put  the  garrison  on  the  alert. 

Now  if  Wasp  and  Dunn  had  only  gone  out  at  once,  they 
probably  would  have  caught,  and  destroyed,  the  whole 
of  the  murdering  gang,  and  so  saved  many  lives  and 
prevented  the  destruction  of  much  valuable  property. 
But  they,  like  Vidal  himself,  were  better  hands  at  mur 
dering  defenceless  people  than  fighting,  so  they  set 
to  work  erecting  breastworks  of  their  precious  cotton- 
bales,  and  getting  a  gun  into  position,  against  the  attack 
of  this  paltry  band  of  Mexican  cut-throats  ! 

Vidal,  finding  he  was  not  attacked,  turned  back  down 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  raising  the  cry  of  "  Muerto  a  los 
Americanos  !  "  plundered  all  the  ranches  in  the  district, 
and  murdered  all  the  Americans  he  could  lay  his  hands  on. 

Two  days  after  the  murder  of  the  couriers,  the  gallant 


292  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

warriors  in  Brownsville,  having  partly  recovered  from 
their  scare,  sent  out  two  companies  of  Rangers  in  pursuit. 
These,  if  they  could  have  come  up  with  Mr.  Vidal  and 
his  Mexicans,  would  have  made  very  short  work  of  them. 
But  unfortunately  the  rascal  got  wind  of  what  was  up, 
and  scattered  his  band,  all  of  whom  got  safely  across 
the  river  into  Mexico,  where  they  eventually  joined 
Cortinas,  the  notorious  brigand  and  guerilla  leader. 

Now  having  told  these  two  stories,  which  seemed 
to  fit  into  this  place,  I  must  hark  back  to  the  doings 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  whilst  I  was  yet  a  sergeant  under 
the  gallant  Dunn's  command.  And  one  of  them  at  any 
rate  was  remarkable  enough,  I  think,  to  be  worth  the 
telling. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  in  Chapter  II.  of  the  previous 
Book  I  mentioned  having  casually  met  a  man  named 
Davis  outside  Corpus  Chris ti,  shortly  after  Thompson 
and  I  landed  in  Texas.  Davis  was  a  lawyer  of  some 
standing  and,  though  a  strong  Northerner,  was  popular 
with  a  certain  section  of  the  people,  and  had  been  elected 
a  Probate  Judge.  When  Secession  took  place  he  had, 
like  many  others,  to  clear  out,  and  went  North,  where 
he  was  given  a  commission  as  Colonel  to  raise  a  regiment 
for  Federal  service  out  of  the  disaffected  elements  in 
South-west  Texas  and  the  deserters  and  the  renegades 
who  had  crossed  into  Mexico.  With  this  object  he 
established  his  headquarters  on  the  Mexican  side  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  a  little  way  above  Boca  del  Rio,  and 
near  a  small  frame  building  dignified  by  the  Mexicans 
with  the  name  of  a  Custom  House.  Close  by  this  a 
detachment  of  Mexican  troops,  some  thirty  in  number, 
was  quartered  to  guard  the  passage  of  the  river,  across 
which  two  small  ferryboats  plied  by  day,  but  were 
tied  up  on  our  side  at  night,  since  the  ferrymen  lived 
there. 

Davis,  aided  by  two  Texan  renegades  named  Heigh  t 
and  Monson  (the  latter  a  desperado  of  the  worst 


VOLUNTEERS    TO    THE    FRONT  293 

character,  who  had  shot  two  men  near  Corpus  Christ! 
and  then  bolted  into  Mexico)  had  collected  together 
about  three  hundred  deserters,  and  was,  it  was  reported, 
about  to  take  them  by  sea  to  New  Orleans  to  join  the 
Yankees  there. 

This  then  was  the  position  of  affairs  when,  one  Saturday 
afternoon  in  April  1863,  the  bugles  sounded  the  fall-in 
at  our  camp  near  Brownsville,  and  Major  Sampson, 
when  the  parade  was  formed,  called  for  150  volunteers 
for  a  night  expedition.  We  were  not  told  the  nature 
of  the  service,  nor  where  we  were  to  go,  only  that 
probably  there  would  be  some  fighting ;  and  almost 
every  man  in  the  six  companies  stepped  the  six  paces 
to  the  front.  ;'  Boys,"  said  he,  "  I  can't  take  you  all ; 
wish  I  could  ;  but  I  guess  six  hundred's  too  many  for  the 
job.  So  each  captain  must  pick  thirty  of  his  best 
mounted  men — that'll  be  quite  enough.  And  look 
sharp,  and  get  a  day's  rations  together,  for  I'm  off 
by  sundown." 

I  was  one  of  those  chosen  from  my  company  ;  saw 
my  horse  well  fed,  got  my  rations  ready,  and,  with  the 
rest  of  the  party,  fell  in  just  before  sundown.  After 
an  examination  of  arms  and  horses,  about  which  latter 
the  Major  was  very  particular,  explaining  that  we  had 
a  long,  sharp  ride  to  do  that  night,  he  gave  the  word 
to  march. 

Once  clear  of  the  camp  we  wheeled  to  the  right  and, 
keeping  close  to  the  deep  fringe  of  chaparral  that  lines 
the  river-bank  nearly  to  its  mouth,  moved  at  a  sharp 
trot  in  the  direction  of  Boca  del  Rio,  distant  about 
forty  miles.  It  was  a  lovely  summer  evening  and,  as 
the  last  gleam  of  daylight  died  out,  we  rode  along  at 
a  smart  "  lope  "  over  the  open  prairie  by  the  light  of 
the  moon,  which  however  would  set  and  leave  us  in 
darkness  in  some  four  hours'  time.  So  we  pushed  along 
to  make  the  most  of  the  light,  every  one  wondering 
and  guessing  what  we  were  after  ;  for,  so  far,  the  secret 


294  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

had  been  well  kept,  if  indeed  it  was  known  to  any  one 
except  the  Major,  and  none  of  us  knew  our  destination. 

For  about  two  hours  we  kept  going,  "  loping  "  and 
trotting,  and  then  our  commander  halted,  dismounted 
us,  to  ease  the  horses  for  a  few  moments,  and  told  us  he 
was  going  to  cross  by  the  ferry,  just  above  Boca  del  Rio, 
into  Mexican  territory,  capture  the  Custom  House  and 
its  Mexican  guard,  and  then  surprise  Davis'  camp.  He 
was  going  to  take  him  and  his  officers,  and  burst  up  his 
precious  regiment  of  deserters  and  renegades  ;  and  as 
he  had  two  good  and  reliable  Mexican  guides  with  him, 
thought  it  would  be  easy  enough  to  effect  the  surprise, 
if  only  we  could  secure  the  Custom  House  guard  before 
the  alarm  was  given. 

Now  these  deserters  and  their  boasting  talk,  which 
we  heard  of  in  Matamoras  and  in  our  camps,  had  riled 
the  boys  very  much,  and  they  were  "  blue  mouldy  "  to 
get  at  them.  So  when  the  Major  had  unfolded  his  plan 
of  campaign  they  were  wild  with  excitement,  and  raised 
such  a  cheer  as  set  the  chichalakas  and  turkey-cocks  in 
the  chaparral  hard  by  crowing  and  gobbling  vehemently. 
For  my  own  part,  though  I  was  as  dead  against  the 
deserters  and  the  rest  of  the  crew  as  anybody,  I  thought 
the  proceeding  an  unwise  one  ;  for  the  more  successful 
we  were  in  our  raid,  the  greater  would  be  the  insult  to 
the  Mexican  Government,  whose  territory  we  were  going 
to  violate,  and  I  thought  it  bad  policy  to  embroil  our 
selves  with  people  who,  so  far,  had  been  friendly  to  our 
cause. 

About  3  a.m.  we  reached  the  ferry,  and  found  the  two 
boats  tied  up  all  right  on  our  side.  Leaving  our  horses 
under  guard,  we  quietly  crossed  in  two  trips,  and  formed 
up  in  dead  silence  under  the  high  bank,  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  Mexican  guard  house.  The  moon  had  long 
since  set,  and  save  for  the  glimmering  light  of  the  stars, 
darkness  reigned. 

A  whispered  word  of  command  was  passed  down 


A    COMPLETE    SURPRISE  295 

ranks,  and  noiselessly  we  crept  up  the  bank  past  the 
Custom  House,  standing  presently  round  the  guard 
house,  where  no  light  was  visible,  and  all  were  apparently 
fast  asleep.  The  surprise  was  complete,  for  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  tell,  the  thirty  Mexicans  were  prisoners, 
and  their  arms  secured.  Never  did  I  see  men  so  scared 
as  they  were  when  they  found  themselves  prisoners  in 
our  power. 

Evidently  they  hadn't  a  very  high  opinion  of  us,  for 
they  seemed  to  think  they  would  be  murdered,  and  many 
fell  on  their  knees  and  begged  for  their  lives.  Great 
accordingly  was  their  relief  when  Major  Sampson  assured 
them  their  lives  were  safe,  and  that  if  they  kept  quiet 
they  would  probably  be  released  in  an  hour  or  two. 

Davis'  camp  was  about  two  miles  away,  and  the  road 
to  it  lay  through  the  dense  chaparral  nearly  the  whole 
distance. 

Sampson  left  five  men,  with  loaded  rifles  and  six- 
shooters,  in  charge  of  the  Mexicans,  and  the  rest  of  us 
set  off,  marching  two  abreast  along  the  narrow  path 
in  the  inky  blackness  of  the  night,  the  two  Mexican 
guides  leading  the  way.  From  them  the  Major  had 
learned  that  Davis,  Height,  and  Monson  occupied  a 
good-sized  hospital  tent,  pitched  in  the  centre  of  the 
camp.  Twenty  picked  men  were  therefore  told  off  to 
secure  these  three,  at  all  hazards,  when  the  rush  was  made. 
It  was  not  altogether  a  pleasant  stroll  along  that 
black  path,  where  you  could  scarcely  see  your  hand 
before  you  ;  for  if  Davis  had  an  inkling  of  what  was 
afoot  he  could  cut  us  up  to  a  man.  Fortunately  for  us 
however,  he  had  not  the  remotest  idea  of  what  was  in 
store  for  him.  So  secure  did  he  deem  himself  on  neutral 
territory,  that  when  at  last  we  emerged  from  that  horrible 
path  into  the  comparative  light  of  the  space  around  the 
camp,  we  found  no  picket,  not  even  a  sentry  mounting 
guard.  By  the  dim  starlight  we  could  see  quite  a  number 
of  tents,  and  on  each  flank  wagons  drawn  up,  whilst 


296  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

outside  them  were  many  horses  picketed.  In  the  centre 
of  the  camp,  standing  by  itself  in  a  small  open  space, 
was  the  hospital  tent  sure  enough  ;  and  now,  if  the 
three  men  we  particularly  wanted  were  in  it,  we  had 
them  right  enough. 

It  was  now,  as  I  guessed,  about  4.30  a.m.,  and  still  quite 
dark.  Not  a  sound  was  to  be  heard  :  the  whole  camp 
was  fast  asleep,  unconscious  of  the  fate  awaiting  it  so 
soon.  In  dead  silence,  and  on  tiptoe,  we  filed  right  and 
left,  the  twenty  picked  men  in  the  centre,  and  then 
waited  for  the  signal  to  charge.  This  was  to  be  a  single 
shot  fired  by  the  Major. 

The  shot  sounded,  loud  and  startling  in  the  stillness 
of  the  night,  and  then,  with  a  volley  from  all  the  rifles, 
and  one  wild  yell,  we  were  amongst  the  tents.  In  less 
than  five  minutes,  we  twenty  told  off  for  the  duty  had 
Davis  and  his  friends  securely  tied.  None  of  them 
made  any  resistance  except  Monson,  who  fought  like  a 
wild  cat  and  wounded  two  of  the  men  badly  with  his 
bowie-knife  before  he  was  overpowered.  The  rest  of 
the  renegades,  completely  surprised,  for  the  attack  to 
them  was  a  veritable  "  bolt  from  the  blue,"  showed  but 
little  fight,  and  those  who  did  were  speedily  shot  down. 
Those  who  could,  bolted  right  and  left  into  the  dense 
chaparral,  where  we  didn't  attempt  to  follow  them. 
Only  two  prisoners,  besides  the  three  leaders,  were  taken. 

By  the  time  it  was  all  over,  the  first  faint  streaks  of 
dawn  began  to  show  in  the  east,  and  it  was  time  for  us  to 
be  off,  before  the  whole  country  turned  out.  So  hastily 
collecting  all  the  arms  we  could  carry,  and  exploding 
the  ammunition,  we  set  off  at  a  smart  pace  for  the  ferry, 
bringing  the  five  prisoners  along  with  us.  There  we  re 
leased  the  Mexican  guard,  and  by  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  were  safely  across  on  our  own  side  of  the  river 
again.  Our  only  casualties  were  one  man  killed,  and  the 
two  wounded  by  Monson.  It  was  a  smart  bit  of  work, 
and  well  managed,  though  I  still  thought  it  very  foolish  to 


THE    MIDDAY    HALT  297 

risk  the  bringing  down  upon  us  the  wrath  of  all  Mexico 
just  for  the  fun  of  breaking  up  the  nest  of  renegades. 

It  was  a  most  lovely  summer  morning  that  Sunday, 
and  as  we  halted  for  breakfast  under  the  shade  of  the 
live-oaks,  where  the  horses  had  been  left  over  night,  all 
were  jubilant  over  the  complete  success  of  our  little  trip, 
and  no  one  gave  any  heed  to  possible  troubles  to  come. 

After  a  couple  of  hours'  rest,  which  we  had  well  earned, 
we  started  on  our  return  to  camp.  About  noon  we  halted 
near  a  clump  of  live-oaks,  and  dismounted.  Major 
Sampson  moved  quietly  about  amongst  the  boys,  evidently 
taking  their  opinions  on  some  matter  of  importance, 
though  he  never  came  near  me.  What  it  was,  was  soon 
made  clear  ;  for  in  about  ten  minutes'  time  Monson, 
Height,  and  the  two  other  prisoners  were  dangling  from 
the  limb  of  a  live-oak  hard  by. 

Monson  no  doubt  richly  deserved  his  fate,  for  he 
was  a  thorough-paced  scoundrel,  whose  only  redeeming 
feature  was  his  pluck.  Against  the  others  nothing 
particular  was  known  except  their  desertion  from  the 
Confederate  forces.  For  this  doubtless  they  deserved 
death  by  all  the  laws  of  war,  but  they  ought  to  have 
been  tried  first  in  all  due  form  by  court-martial.  Samp 
son's  excuse  for  the  murders,  for  such  they  were,  was 
that  if  he  handed  over  the  prisoners  to  the  proper  au 
thorities  in  camp,  there  would  probably  be  such  a  rumpus 
kicked  up  by  the  Mexicans,  over  the  raid,  that  they 
would  have  to  be  released  and  sent  across  the  Rio  Grande 
again. 

Davis  was  spared,  and  taken  into  camp  under  strong 
escort.  There  the  desire  amongst  the  boys  to  hang  him 
was  very  strong  ;  but  General  Wasp  and  Dunn,  much 
as  they  would  have  liked  to  string  him  up,  were  afraid  of 
the  consequences  of  such  an  act.  They  therefore  told 
off  a  party  of  twelve  reliable  men  to  guard  him,  with 
myself  as  Sergeant  (to  which  exalted  rank  I  had  then 
attained)  in  charge  :  probably  because  they  knew  I 


298  THE    RAID    INTO    MEXICO 

had  always  resolutely  set  my  face  against  private  and 
amateur  hangings.  The  next  day,  about  midnight, 
when  all  the  camp  was  quiet,  I  received  an  order  to  take 
the  prisoner  over  to  General  Magruder's  camp  beyond 
Brownsville,  and  hand  him  over  to  the  Provost  there  :  a 
wise  precaution  I  believe,  for  if  the  boys  had  known  he 
was  being  removed,  they  would  have  lynched  him  to  a 
certainty.  As  it  was  I  got  him  safely  away,  and  was 
very  glad  when  the  Provost  in  Magruder's  camp  relieved 
me  of  my  troublesome  charge. 

As  I  had  anticipated,  the  Governor  of  Nueva  Leon, 
in  whose  jurisdiction  the  raid  had  been  made,  was  furious 
at  the  insult  put  upon  his  country,  and  demanded  the 
instant  release  of  Colonel  Davis  and  a  full  apology  for 
the  violation  of  his  territory.  With  these  demands 
General  Magruder  at  once  complied,  and  both  he  and 
General  Wasp  having  denied  all  knowledge  of  the  raid, 
the  matter  dropped. 

In  after  years,  when  the  war  was  over,  I  met  Davis 
again  in  Indianola  at  the  house  of  my  friend  and  partner 
Doctor  Hughes.  He  told  me  that  during  that  night's 
march  to  Magruder's  camp  he  fully  expected  to  be 
strung  up  on  every  tree  we  came  to,  and  that  he  thought 
he  was  mainly  indebted  to  me  that  such  was  not  his  fate. 


CHAPTER    VII 

MY   FEIEND   GOES   HOME 

ABOUT  this  time  we  were  startled  in  our  camp  by  the 
firing  of  salvos  of  artillery  and  volleys  of  musketry  over 
in  Matamoras.  Flags  were  hoisted  on  all  the  public 
buildings,  and  crowds  of  Mexicans  went  about  cheering 
and  shouting  themselves  hoarse.  In  the  evening  the 
town  was  illuminated  after  a  fashion,  and  a  grand  "  fan 
dango  "  held  in  honour  of  a  glorious  victory  gained  over 
the  French  under  Marshal  Bazaine. 

The  very  next  day,  curiously  enough,  there  were  more 
rejoicings,  though  not  on  quite  so  extensive  a  scale.  This 
time  it  was  the  Yankees  celebrating  the  fall  of  Vicksburg, 
and  the  practical  ruin  of  the  Confederate  cause.  Both 
these  jubilations  turned  out  to  be  somewhat  premature  ; 
for  the  Mexican  "  victory  "  proved  in  reality  to  be  a 
severe  defeat,  and  Vicksburg,  sorely  battered,  and  in 
desperate  plight,  still  gallantly  held  out. 

A  lieutenant  in  my  company  named  Luck,  to  whoso 
misdeeds  I  have  before  referred,  especially  after  the 
fight  with  the  German  Unionists  from  Friedricksburg,  had 
now  to  resign  his  commission,  as  the  boys  insisted  on 
his  retiring. 

I  was  persuaded  by  my  friends  amongst  the  better- 
class  men  to  put  up  for  the  vacancy,  and,  though  I  was 
sick  of  trying  to  get  a  commission,  consented.  I  got  a 
clear  majority  of  votes,  but  was  done  again  by  Dunn's 
trickery.  The  man  who  stood  next  to  me  was  put  up 
to  demand  a  recount,  and  then  it  was  worked  so  that 
our  positions  were  reversed,  and  I  came  out  second. 

299 


300  MY    FRIEND    GOES    HOME 

Luck,  immediately  he  resigned  his  lieutenant's  com 
mission,  was  appointed  by  Dunn  Captain  and  Quarter 
master  of  the  regiment. 

A  scene  which  took  place  just  after  this  election  is 
perhaps  worth  relating,  because  one  of  the  actors  in  it 
behaved  with  pluck  and  generosity  :  a  combination  of 
qualities  not  often  found  amongst  our  rough  frontiersmen. 
A  dispute  about  some  trifling  matter  arose  between  two 
members  of  our  company  named  Adams  and  Cranham. 
The  first,  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  was  a  Western 
stock-raiser,  a  rough,  open-hearted  fellow,  with  plenty 
of  pluck,  and  much  liked  by  everybody ;  the  other  a 
little  backwoods  schoolmaster,  and  would-be  lawyer,  ill- 
tempered  and  spiteful,  with  a  sharp  edge  to  his 
tongue. 

In  the  course  of  the  dispute  Cranham  grew  very 
abusive,  and  Adams,  who  suffered  from  rheumatism  and 
walked  with  a  stick,  threatened  to  strike  him,  if  he  gave 
him  any  more  talk.  Cranham  at  once  clapped  his 
hand  to  his  six-shooter,  and  dared  him  to  do  so.  Adams 
raised  his  stick,  and  the  other  fired  point-blank  at  his 
head,  and  missed,  though  he  was  so  close  that  his  hair 
was  powder-burned.  Cranham  then  started  to  run, 
firing  as  he  went ;  and  Adams,  forgetting  all  about  his 
lameness,  darted  after  him.  In  about  twenty  steps  he 
caught  him  by  the  shoulder,  and,  as  the  runaway  pointed 
his  pistol  at  him  again,  grasped  it  by  the  muzzle  and 
wrenched  it  out  of  his  hand  by  a  quick  turn  of 
his  wrist. 

His  adversary  then  took  to  his  heels,  crying  for  mercy 
as  he  ran.  From  ninety -nine  men  out  of  every  hundred 
in  that  camp  he  would  have  received  none,  but  Adams 
was  the  exception.  He  was  a  splendid  shot,  either  with 
pistol  or  rifle,  and  as  Cranham  ran,  screaming  with  terror, 
he  covered  him  for  a  moment ;  then  dropped  his  muzzle, 
and  walked  up  to  where  we  were  standing,  saying  quite 
coolly,  "  I  couldn't  shoot  the  poor  devil  like  that." 


YELLOW    JACK  301 

Both  men  were  placed  under  arrest  by  the  captain  of 
the  company  ;  but  there  was  so  strong  a  feeling  amongst 
the  boys  on  Adams'  behalf,  that  they  were  both  shortly 
released,  on  condition  that  they  dropped  the  quarrel,  to 
which  my  friend  at  any  rate  readily  agreed. 

About  the  middle  of  April  1863  our  company,  then 
quartered  in  Brownsville,  was  ordered  to  rejoin  the 
regiment,  stationed  some  twelve  miles  below  the  town  ; 
a  detachment  of  twenty  men  being  left  behind,  which 
would  be  relieved  in  a  fortnight.  I  volunteered  to 
remain  with  this  detachment,  and  it  was  fortunate  I  did 
so,  for  my  old  friend  Thompson  turned  up  at  Browns 
ville  the  very  day  after  the  company  marched  out. 
He,  as  I  have  already  said,  had  sold  out  his  interest 
in  the  Frio  ranch  to  me  more  than  a  year  before,  and 
was  now  on  his  way  home.  He  had  come  to  Brownsville 
partly  to  say  good-bye  to  me  and  partly  in  the  hope  of 
getting  a  passage  in  a  blockade-runner  homeward  bound 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Our  meeting  was 
most  cordial,  for  save  and  except  for  the  foolish  quarrel 
at  the  ranch  over  the  pet  deer  he  shot,  which  was  entirely 
my  fault,  we  had  been  warm  friends  since  we  first  met 
in  Canada,  three  years  before. 

He  looked  pretty  well,  but  complained  of  his  head, 
and  a  general  lassitude  and  weariness. 

The  next  day  he  seemed  worse,  was  feverish  and 
restless,  and  that  afternoon  T  got  my  friend  Doctor 
Jones,  the  head  of  the  medical  service  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
to  see  him.  He  said  he  had  a  mild  attack  of  yellow 
fever,  but  with  care  and  good  nursing  thought  he  would 
be  all  right  again  in  a  few  weeks.  With  some  difficulty 
I  got  him  a  comfortable  lodging  in  the  town  and,  with  the 
aid  of  a  Mexican  woman,  tended  and  nursed  him  myself 
for  the  next  fortnight.  Then  I  was  obliged  to  rejoin 
the  regiment ;  but  as  my  friend  was  already  on  the  road 
to  convalescence,  I  left  him  with  a  fairly  easy  mind, 
promising  to  return  as  soon  as  I  could.  I  spent  four  days 


302  MY    FRIEND    GOES    HOME 

in  camp,  during  which  we  had  almost  incessant  drill,  in 
preparation  for  inspection  at  Brownsville  by  General 
Magruder.  Then  we  marched  into  the  town  for  this 
function,  and  I  found  Thompson  so  much  better  that, 
though  still  weak,  he  was  out  of  bed  and  dressed. 
^Magruder  overhauled  us  thoroughly,  for  with  all  his 
faults  he  was  a  real  soldier,  and  a  fighting  man.  He 
was  a  West  Point  man,  and  held  the  rank  of  colonel  in 
the  U.S.  Army  at  the  time  of  Secession.  On  that  he 
was  made  major-general,  and  given  the  command  of  a 
division  under  Lee,  with  whom  he  did  good  service 
and  saw  much  hard  fighting  in  Virginia,  when  McClellan 
was  foiled  in  his  first  attempt  on  Richmond.  But 
it  was  said  that  it  was  owing  to  some  fatal  weakness 
of  his  that  he  failed  to  bring  up  his  division  in  time 
to  block  McClellan's  retreat  on  the  James  River,  so 
saving  that  commander  from  an  overwhelming  disaster. 
Anyway,  he  was  relieved  of  his  command  shortly 
after  this  occurrence,  and  sent  down  to  Texas.  What 
ever  his  faults,  he  was  the  best  officer  by  far  that  we 
had  seen  in  Texas  since  the  war  began. 

He  seemed  pleased  with  our  turn-out  and  appearance  ; 
and  indeed  we  were,  as  far  as  men  and  horses  went, 
a  fine  body  of  irregular  cavalry,  and  could  have  given  a 
good  account  of  ourselves,  if  only  we  had  had  a  capable 
leader  like  himself.  As  to  drill,  I'm  afraid  that  was  not 
our  strong  point ;  but  that  was  the  fault  of  Dunn  and  his 
crew,  and  I  believe  Magruder  gave  these  gentry  a  bit 
of  his  mind  on  the  subject  of  their  ignorance  and  in 
efficiency.  So  it  was  reported,  and  I  most  sincerely  hope 
it  was  true. 

After  the  inspection  we  rode  back  to  camp,  and  there 
had  to  remain  on  duty  till  the  following  Friday.  Then 
I  got  leave  till  the  Sunday  night,  and  rode  up  to  Browns 
ville  to  look  after  Thompson.  Unfortunately  he  had  had 
a  slight  relapse  and  had  taken  to  his  bed  again,  but  the 
doctor  I  called  in,  in  Jones'  absence  in  Corpus  Christi, 


A    SUDDEN    CONVERSION  303 

made  light  of  it ;  said  he  had  been  doing  too  much, 
but  with  care  and  quiet  would  soon  be  all  right  again. 
So  I  left  him  that  Sunday  afternoon,  without  any  appre 
hension,  and  never  dreamed  that  our  final  parting  was 
so  near  at  hand. 

That  ride  back  to  camp  was  a  memorable  one,  for  a 
comrade  who  rode  with  me,  and  myself,  were  caught  in 
a  sudden  tornado  some  miles  short  of  it.  An  inky 
blackness  spread  over  the  sky  with  extraordinary  rapidity, 
and  almost  before  we  could  take  shelter  in  the  chaparral, 
down  came  the  rain  in  bucketfuls.  All  that  night  it 
poured  down  upon  us,  and  without  blankets,  or  cover 
of  any  sort,  we  sat  shivering  and  drenched  to  the  skin. 
Arrived  at  camp,  we  found  our  comrades  in  not  much 
better  plight,  for  their  tents  had  been  blown  in  all  direc 
tions,  and  the  whole  show  was  a  wreck. 

The  day  we  returned  an  order  was  read  out  on  "  dress- 
parade,"  converting  us,  whether  we  liked  it  or  not,  into 
the  33rd  Regiment  of  Texas  Cavalry,  in  the  regular  Con 
federate  service,  taking  our  tents  from  us,  and  reducing 
our  transport  to  four  wagons  to  the  regiment.  This 
created  a  great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  amongst  the  boys  ; 
for  service  in  a  local  Partizan  Regiment,  for  which  they 
had  enlisted,  was  very  different  from  that  in  a  regular 
corps.  To  me  it  brought  a  hope  of  escape  from  the 
service  I  hated  so  much  ;  for  in  the  regulars  substitutes 
were  allowed,  whilst  in  the  Rangers  they  were  not,  and 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  get  one  as  soon  as  I  could. 

Till  the  Thursday  evening  we  were  busy  with  drills 
and  inspections,  and  it  was  not  till  Friday  morning  that 
I  could  get  leave  to  go  back  to  my  sick  friend.  I  found 
him  decidedly  worse,  though  he  didn't  seem  to  realise 
it,  but  was  cheerful,  and  very  glad  to  see  me.  "  I  am 
always  better  when  I  have  you  with  me,  old  friend," 
he  said.  "  Don't  leave  me  if  you  can  help  it,  till  I'm 
all  right  again." 

I  had  a  week's  leave,  and  would  be  with  him  all  that 


304  MY    FRIEND    GOES    HOME 

time,  I  told  him,  and  at  the  end  of  that,  hoped  he  would 
be  up  again.  But  in  my  heart  of  hearts  I  had  no  such 
hope,  for  it  seemed  to  me  the  end  of  all  things  earthly 
was  close  at  hand  for  my  poor  friend,  and  the  thought 
was  hard  to  bear.  I  went  off  at  once  to  the  doctor, 
and  asked  his  opinion.  He  had  seen  Thompson  an  hour 
or  two  before,  and  said  there  was  no  danger,  though  he 
certainly  was  very  weak.  Might  I  call  in  the  post 
surgeon,  and  would  they  both  see  him  together  ?  He 
had  no  objection,  and  presently,  after  consultation,  I 
was  assured  by  both  that  my  fears  were  groundless, 
for  with  good  nursing  my  friend  would  pull  round. 
That,  at  any  rate,  he  should  have,  poor  old  fellow,  as  far 
as  I  could  give  him  it.  All  that  Friday  night  I  sat  up 
with  him,  and  all  Saturday  never  left  him.  He  was  very 
patient  and  quiet ;  but  he  was  growing  weaker  and  weaker, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  doctors'  opinion,  I  felt  sick 
at  heart,  for  as  I  watched  his  thin,  drawn  features  I 
knew  there  was  no  hope. 

On  Saturday  evening,  as  the  daylight  was  fading,  I 
was  sitting  by  his  side,  whilst  he  apparently  was  dozing. 
I  suppose  I  looked  sad  and  worried,  as  indeed  I  was, 
for  he  suddenly  opened  his  eyes,  and  placing  his  hand  on 
mine  said,  "  Don't  worry  yourself  about  me,  my  dear 
fellow;  I  shall  be  all  right  again  soon,  if  you  can  stay  with 
me  and  look  after  me."  I  declared  I  wouldn't  leave  him 
whatever  happened,  till  he  was  better.  "  But  you  must 
be  back  in  camp  by  the  end  of  the  week.  You  mustn't 
get  into  trouble  for  me ;  I  have  been  trouble  enough  to 
others,  without  that,"  he  said.  Then,  with  a  weary 
sigh,  as  talking  to  himself—  ;'  I  daresay  that'll  be  long 
enough."  He  lay  quite  still  after  this,  and,  thinking 
he  was  asleep,  I  was  gently  moving  away  when,  once 
more,  he  laid  his  hand  on  mine  and  said,  "  Don't 
move  ;  if  you  don't  mind  listening,  I  should  like  to  tell 
you  who  I  am,  and  how  I  came  to  leave  home,  just 
before  we  met  in  Canada." 


THOMPSON'S    STORY  305 

And  this  is  what  he  told  me,  as  I  sat  by  his  side  in  the 
deepening  gloom.  There  was  nothing  very  romantic 
in  it ;  only  the  tragedy  of  a  commonplace  life,  that  so 
many  of  us  carry  about  with  us  for  years,  hiding  it  so 
carefully  from  our  friends  behind  a  smiling,  cheerful  face, 
whilst  our  hearts  are  heavy  within  us. 

He  had  been  station-master  at  one  of  the  principal 
stations  of  a  great  railway  in  the  North  of  England.  He 
had  a  pleasant  home,  and  a  good  wife,  and  lived  happily 
and  comfortably  in  the  northern  town  for  about  five 
years.  Then  one  night  the  Edinburgh  express  ran  into 
a  shunting  goods-train  just  outside  the  station,  and  there 
was  a  frightful  smash  :  carriages  piled  on  each  other, 
dead,  dying,  and  mutilated  passengers,  making  such  a 
scene  as  only  those  who  have  witnessed  such  an  accident 
can  realise.  He  was  exonerated  from  all  blame  for  the 
accident,  which,  like  so  many  of  the  kind,  had  been 
caused  by  the  carelessness  of  a  signalman.  But  the 
shock  of  the  awful  scene  he  had  gone  through  was  too 
much  for  his  nerves,  and  he  sent  in  his  resignation. 

The  directors  of  the  company  gave  him  a  month's 
leave  during  which  to  reconsider  the  matter  ;  for  he 
was  a  valued  official,  and  they  wished  to  retain  him.  But 
it  was  no  good.  The  very  sight  of  the  station,  and  the 
rush  and  roar  of  the  trains,  so  unnerved  him  that  it 
seemed  to  his  disordered  imagination  every  one  was 
pointing  at  him  as  the  cause  of  the  disaster. 

All  this  I  may  say  was  inexplicable  to  me,  for  he  always 
seemed  a  cool,  placid  man,  the  very  last  one  to  be 
troubled  with  nerves,  whilst  I  knew  him.  However, 
in  his  then  state  of  mind  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  throw  up  his  employment.  This  done,  he  left  the 
town,  dropped  his  real  name,  which  had  become  hateful 
to  him,  and  took  that  of  Thompson.  For  a  short  time 
he  went  into  farming  in  an  out-of-the-way  place  in  the 
extreme  west  of  England.  But  wherever  he  went  he 
was  haunted  by  the  fear  lest  he  should  meet  some  one 

20 


306  MY    FRIEND    GOES    HOME 

who  knew  him,  and  would  whisper,  "  That's  the  late 
station-master  of  -  -  who  caused  that  awful  accident." 

It  was  becoming  a  monomania  with  him  ;  so  at  last 
his  wife  agreed  with  him  that  his  only  chance  was  to 
leave  England,  and  start  life  afresh  in  a  new  country. 
When  he  had  found  a  new  home,  she  would  come  out 
and  join  him.  In  this,  as  we  know,  he  had  failed ;  and 
now,  poor  fellow,  he  was  going  home  to  his  wife,  who  was 
eagerly  expecting  him,  he  said.  Would  I  write  to  her 
by  the  first  opportunity,  and  tell  her  how  it  was  he  had 
been  so  long  on  the  journey  ?  He  gave  me  her  address, 
and  said  he  had  told  her  all  about  me,  and  what  friends 
we  had  been,  and  how  pleased  she  would  be,  poor  soul, 
to  get  a  letter  from  me. 

I  promised  him  to  write  by  the  first  chance  ;  but 
presently  he  looked  questioningly  at  me  and  said  :  "  But 
after  all  it  is  perhaps  hardly  worth  while  to  write,  I  shall 
be  home  almost  as  soon  as  your  letter."  He  did  go 
"  home,"  poor  fellow,  before  I  could  write,  for  he  died 
in  my  arms  next  morning  at  sunrise. 

He  was  sleeping  quietly,  after  a  restless  night,  and  I 
lay  down  close  by  him.  Suddenly  I  heard  him  gasping 
and  struggling  for  breath.  I  held  him  a  few  minutes 
in  my  arms  ;  then  I  laid  him  back  upon  the  bed,  for  my 
poor  friend  was  dead. 

At  sunset  that  lovely  Sunday  evening  we  laid  him  to 
rest  in  the  cemetery  hard  by  the  town.  An  Episcopal 
clergyman  read  the  solemn  Church  of  England  burial 
service,  and  then  the  doctor,  and  the  little  party  of 
mourners  who  had  followed  with  me,  left  him  to  sleep 
for  ever,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

My  poor  friend's  death  was  inexpressibly  sad  to  me,  and 
I  mourned  him  truly  as  an  honourable,  open-hearted 
man,  fearless,  and  truthful  in  all  his  dealings.  How 
I  regretted  having  persuaded  him  to  come  to  Texas  ! 
But  then  I  didn't  know  his  story,  or  his  aims  and  objects 
had  I  known  them,  things  might  have  been  different. 


MY    SUBSTITUTE  307 

The  following  day,  hearing  that  Dunn  was  in  town,  I 
went  out  and  asked  him  for  sixty  days'  leave  to  attend 
to  my  own  business,  for  I  felt  very  reluctant  to  return 
to  camp  just  then  ;  and  besides,  I  had  had  no  tidings  from 
the  ranch  for  some  time,  and  didn't  know  whether  the 
Indians  had  cleared  out  the  whole  place  or  not.  He 
said  he  was  very  sorry  he  couldn't  grant  me  this,  as  all 
furlough  had  been  stopped  by  the  General's  orders,  but 
added,  "  Now  you  are  in  the  regulars,  why  don't  you 
get  a  substitute  ?  "  Well,  it  was  almost  a  mockery  to 
ask  such  a  question  ;  for  such  things  are  very  rare  com 
modities,  and  when  one  by  good  fortune  was  found,  the 
authorities  were  very  fastidious  about  accepting  him, 
unless  the  applicant  were  a  favourite.  However,  I  said, 
<fc  Am  I  to  understand,  then,  you  will  accept  a  substitute 
in  my  place  if  I  can  get  one  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  he  answered ;  "I  will  recommend  his 
acceptance  by  the  General,  for  it  rests  with  him." 

How  strangely  things  happen  in  this  world  some 
times  !  That  very  evening  a  young  fellow,  evidently 
a  sailor  and  an  Englishman,  met  me  in  the  town,  and 
asked  me  some  question — about  a  lodging,  I  think  it  was. 
So  we  got  into  conversation,  and  he  told  me  he  had 
come  over  in  a  coaster  from  New  Orleans,  and  been 
discharged  ;  that  he  was  sick  of  the  sea,  and  had  some 
idea  of  joining  the  Confederate  service :  could  I  put  him 
in  the  way  of  it  ?  "  Why,"  I  said,  "  you've  come  to 
the  very  man  who  can,  and  who  will  put  something  into 
your  pocket  too  !  " 

Then  I  told  him  how  I  wanted  a  substitute,  and  was 
willing  to  pay  him  $150,  if  that  would  suit  him.  He 
jumped  at  it,  and  we  struck  the  bargain  at  once.  I  took 
my  man — Osborne  was  his  name,  to  the  hotel — and  then 
went  straight  off  to  my  friend  Dunn  again  to  tell  him  what 
I  had  done. 

I  wasn't  surprised  to  find  that  he  raised  all  sorts  of 
difficulties  directly.  No  Englishman  would  do  at  any 


308  MY    FRIEND    GOES    HOME 

price,  and  only  an  American  citizen  over  twenty-five 
years  of  age  could  be  accepted.  As  may  be  supposed, 
I  was  pretty  mad  at  this,  and  told  him  he  knew  as  well 
as  I  did  that  what  he  asked  was  impossible  to  get,  and 
if  it  were  possible,  would  cost  three  or  four  thousand 
dollars.  We  were  alone,  so  I  told  him  straight  he  had 
fooled  me  often  enough  already,  and  I  wasn't  going  to 
let  him  do  so  any  more.  "  I  am  going  now  to  Colonel 
Luckett  and  General  Wasp,  and  if  they  refuse  my  sub 
stitute,  which  I  don't  believe  they  will,  I  tell  you  plainly, 
Major  Dunn,  I  will  serve  under  you  no  longer,"  and  with 
that  turned  on  my  heel  and  left  him. 

To  cut  a  long  story  short,  Colonel  Luckett,  who  com 
manded  the  brigade,  sided  with  me,  and  thought  I  was 
being  unfairly  treated.  He  was  a  good  fellow,  and  had 
always  been  friendly  with  me.  "  Come  right  away  to 
the  General  with  me,"  he  said  ;  "I  think  I  have  enough 
influence  with  him  to  fix  this  up  for  you,  whatever  Dunn 
may  say."  He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  by  Friday 
evening  everything  was  settled  ;  my  man  Osborne  was 
sworn  in,  I  paid  him  his  money,  and  was  a  free  man 
once  more — free,  above  all  things,  from  the  hateful 
command  of  the  man  Dunn,  to  serve  under  whom  was 
a  disgrace  to  a  self-respecting  man. 

And  yet,  when  it  came  to  parting  with  some  of  my 
old  comrades,  I  couldn't  help  regretting  the  severance. 
The  majority  of  them  were  right  good  fellows,  rough 
frontiersmen  as  they  were,  and  many  a  good  turn  they 
had  done  me  ;  showing  their  confidence  in  me  too  by 
voting  for  me  when  I  ran  for  lieutenant.  Not  a  man 
amongst  them  blamed  me  for  going,  though  I  confess 
1  felt  a  sort  of  sneaking  feeling  in  my  heart  of  hearts,  as 
though  I  were  deserting  them  in  what  might  be  the 
hour  of  danger.  However,  I  consoled  myself  with  the 
thought  that  after  all  I  wasn't  going  away  to  lead  an 
easy  or  luxurious  life,  but  back  to  the  exposed  Indian 
frontier,  where  the  few  and  scattered  inhabitants,  it 


A    BELATED    POST  309 

might  truly  be  said,  lived  in  a  state  of  chronic  warfare, 
and  had  hard  enough  work  to  protect  their  property, 
let  alone  their  scalps. 

So,  on  May  12,  1863,  just  a  year  after  joining  them, 
I  left  the  Partizan  Rangers,  now  the  33rd  Regiment  of 
Confederate  Cavalry,  with  many  a  warm  hand-shake 
from  old  friends,  and  many  a  hearty  wish  for  our  speedy 
meeting  again. 

After  spending  a  few  days  in  Matamoras  with  ac 
quaintances  I  had  made,  I  bethought  me  I  had  promised 
to  inquire  for  letters  for  a  friend  in  Brownsville,  and  so 
strolled  into  the  post-office,  a  wooden  shanty  with  racks 
round  the  interior,  in  which  letters  are  deposited  till 
called  for.  Whilst  the  Mexican  postmaster  was  de 
liberately  searching  for  the  name  I  had  given,  I  glanced 
round  and  there,  right  opposite  me,  saw  a  packet  ad 
dressed  to  myself  in  my  mother's  handwriting  !  Then 
I  examined  a  flyblown  list  of  letters  uncalled  for,  which 
was  stuck  against  the  wall,  and  found  there  were  two 
more  for  me.  I  hadn't  heard  from  home  for  months, 
and  was  delighted  with  my  unexpected  find. 

The  letters  had  been  addressed  "  Care  of  the  South 
Western  Express  Company,"  which,  so  far  as  I  could 
learn,  had  no  existence  except  in  the  fertile  imagination 
of  an  English  newspaper  man  who  had  advised  those 
having  friends  in  the  South  to  so  address  their  letters. 
How  mine  ever  got  to  Matamoras  still  remains  a  mystery  ; 
but  I  got  them,  which  was  the  great  thing,  and  was 
happy  in  their  possession,  the  more  so  that  my  finding 
them  in  that  unlikely  place  was  a  pure  chance.  Having 
finished  my  business  in  Matamoras,  I  set  out  with  a 
friend  who  was  going  125  miles  of  the  way  to  Victoria, 
on  my  eight  days'  ride  to  San  Antonio,  which  I  reached 
without  any  misadventure. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

IN   COMMAND    AT   LAST  ! 

I  MUST  now  explain  that,  from  the  middle  of  May  1863, 
to  the  beginning  of  November  1864,  I  neglected  to  keep 
the  rough  diary  I  had  hitherto  written  up  pretty  regularly 
— partly  from  want  of  time,  partly  because  nothing  of 
much  interest  happened,  but  chiefly  I  fear  because  I 
was  idle.  But  in  the  latter  month,  being  a  good  deal 
at  the  ranch,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in  winter  quarters, 
with  the  frontier  company  I  then  commanded,  I  wrote 
up  notes  of  anything  I  could  remember  of  importance 
during  the  interval.  From  these,  therefore,  I  resume 
my  story,  such  as  it  is. 

From  San  Antonio  I  rode  off  to  the  ranch,  after  one 
day's  rest.  There  I  arrived  late  in  the  evening,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  the  Mexicans,  for  I  was  the  last  person 
they  expected,  or  wished,  to  see.  Having  no  one  to  look 
after  them,  these  gentry,  after  the  manner  of  their  kind, 
had  been  taking  things  very  easy,  and  everything  had 
been  neglected.  Calves  had  been  left  unbranded ; 
horses  allowed  to  stray  miles  away  on  the  prairie,  till 
the  only  wonder  was  that  the  Indians  hadn't  cleared 
out  the  lot.  However,  I  soon  changed  all  that,  and 
kept  the  lazy  rascals  hard  at  work  from  morning  till 
night  ;  they,  no  doubt,  the  while,  heartily  wishing  me 
back  on  the  Rio  Grande,  or  anywhere  else. 

The  night  of  my  return  I  heard  there  was  a  Mexican 
beef-buyer  in  the  country,  about  twelve  miles  above  me ; 
and  as  I  was  in  dire  need  of  cash  for  current  expenses, 
I  started  out  next  morning  with  some  of  my  vaqueros  to 

310 


WARLIKE    EDITORS  311 

his  camp.  Finding  I  could  do  business  with  the  Mexican, 
I  set  to  work  cattle-hunting  for  eight  days,  collecting 
a  good  bunch  of  fat  stock,  which  I  sold  for  $2,500, 
and  so  returned  to  the  ranch  in  much  contentment. 

One  day  I  rested  there,  and  then,  as  I  was  quite  out 
of  stores  of  all  kinds,  had  to  ride  into  San  Antonio  again, 
sending  my  wagon  on  ahead  of  me.  I  found  the  town 
in  great  excitement  over  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and 
General  Lee's  Pennsylvania  campaign.  The  former 
event  I  looked  upon  as  a  most  serious  disaster  for  our 
cause,  and  a  blow  so  staggering  that  it  would  probably 
compel  the  South  to  capitulate  very  shortly.  In  this 
of  course  I  was  mistaken,  for  the  desperate  struggle 
continued,  with  increasing  bitterness,  for  two  years 
longer  ;  the  dauntless  Lee,  with  ever  more  and  more 
diminishing  forces  facing  his  foes  with  a  resourcefulness 
and  rapidity  of  movement  that  made  the  whole  world 
wonder  and  admire. 

The  heart  of  the  whole  Southern  people  was  lifted 
up  to  that  hero,  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  in  worship 
and  in  admiration  ;  and  how  anxiously  and  eagerly  every 
soul  watched  and  waited  for  tidings  of  his  great  deeds ! 
But  now,  in  the  cold  light  of  afterwards,  it  is  easy  to  see, 
though  hard  to  say,  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  the 
South  had  her  hero  been  a  smaller  man,  and  less  selflessly 
devoted  to  her  cause  :  her  death-struggle  would  have 
been  shorter,  and  the  sum  of  her  awful  agony  reduced. 

But  still  in  San  Antonio  I  found  every  one,  especially 
the  non-combatants,  and  above  all  the  neswspaper 
editors,  very  warlike  ;  they  were  going  to  whip  the 
hated  Yankees  to  a  certainty  !  What,  however,  troubled 
these  worthies  more  than  the  disasters  of  the  war  was 
the  rapid  fall  in  value  of  the  Confederate  paper-money, 
which  now  was  at  a  discount  of  about  88  per  cent. 
"  Where  would  it  stop  ?  "  was  the  question  in  every  one's 
mouth  ;  and  it  was  only  those  who  had  some  foresight 
who  realised  that,  if  the  South  lost,  it  would  be  abso- 


312  IN   COMMAND   AT   LAST 

lutely  worthless.  Fortunately  these  were  a  very  small 
minority,  or  I  don't  know  what  would  have  happened. 

Returning  to  the  ranch  after  a  week  in  San  Antonio, 
I  had  to  start  out  again  to  look  after  some  stock  some 
miles  up  the  Frio,  so  there  wasn't  much  respite  from 
the  saddle  for  me.  Whilst  camping  there  an  old  ac 
quaintance,  of  the  name  of  Johns,  turned  up  somewhat 
unexpectedly.  He  had  served  in  the  old  company 
with  me,  but,  suffering  much  from  rheumatism,  had  been 
discharged.  He  came  of  a  good  Virginian  family,  and 
was  an  old  bachelor,  very  eccentric  in  his  notions  and 
habits,  but,  take  him  altogether,  a  very  good  fellow. 

I  knew  he  was  as  poor  as  a  rat,  so  invited  him,  when 
he  got  his  discharge,  to  come  up  to  the  Frio,  and  if  he 
had  nothing  better  to  do,  he  could  put  up  there  as  long 
as  he  liked,  and  I  should  be  delighted  to  have  him.  So 
now  he  was  on  his  way  there,  and  I  was  glad  enough  to 
see  him,  for  life  on  a  ranch  by  oneself  is  but  dull  work. 

I'm  afraid  his  first  night  on  the  Frio  was  not  very 
pleasant,  for  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents.  In  those 
days  I  never  got  up  for  rain,  unless  I  was  fairly  washed 
out  ;  so  I  rolled  myself  in  my  Spanish  manta,  which 
is  nearly  impervious  to  water,  and  slept  through  it 
pretty  well.  Not  so  poor  Johns,  who  said  next  morning 
he  had  wandered  about  disconsolately  all  night,  to  try 
and  keep  himself  warm. 

About  sunrise  the  rain  ceased,  and  I  unrolled  myself 
from  the  manta  to  find  the  Mexican  had  prepared  the 
usual  breakfast  of  fried  beef,  corn  bread,  and  coffee. 
After  this  I  was  strolling  a  little  way  from  camp  when, 
behind  a  clump  of  live-oaks,  I  came  on  a  lively  scene. 
An  American  lad,  not  more  than  eighteen  years  old, 
had  his  six-shooter  pointed  at  one  of  my  vaqueros,  and 
was  threatening  to  shoot  him,  whilst  the  latter,  with 
his  knife  drawn,  and  his  eyes  gleaming  with  rage,  was 
telling  him  in  Mexican,  not  a  word  of  which  did  the 
lad  understand,  to  make  a  sure  shot,  or  he  would  kill 


A    TRANSFORMATION  313 

him  with  his  knife.  I  very  soon  put  a  stop  to  the  row, 
the  cause  of  which  I  have  forgotten  ;  but  it  was  lucky 
I  turned  up  when  I  did,  for  a  minute  or  two  later  on, 
one  or  other  of  them  would  have  been  dead. 

The  country  was  too  wet  to  do  much  riding,  so  I 
turned  back  to  the  ranch,  and  Johns  with  me.  He, 
poor  fellow,  was,  I  think,  the  most  awkward  man  on  a 
horse  I  ever  beheld,  and  the  rheumatism,  which  had 
stiffened  one  of  his  knees,  didn't  improve  his  horseman 
ship.  He  hated  riding,  which  was  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  though  a  most  unusual  thing  in  Texas,  and  never 
would  get  on  a  horse  if  he  could  help  it.  Of  course  in 
a  country  like  that,  of  "  magnificent  distances,"  he  had 
to  ride,  but  it  was  always  pain  and  grief  to  him. 

It  was  now  early  in  the  month  of  July,  and  the  heavy 
rains  had  changed  the  whole  face  of  nature  with  a 
suddenness  which  always  struck  me  with  wonder,  often 
as  I  had  seen  it.  Months  of  drought  and  fervent  heat 
burn  the  prairies  brown :  even  the  evergreen  live- 
oak  leaves  seem  scorched  and  withered,  and  all  the 
land  parched  and  dry,  till  one  yearns  for  the  sight 
of  something  green.  Then  the  heavy  clouds  gather, 
down  pours  the  torrent  of  rain  for  perhaps  forty-eight 
hours  without  ceasing,  and  the  whole  scene  is  changed 
as  though  by  a  magician's  wand  ;  the  grass  springs  fresh 
and  green,  the  flowers  bloom  ;  lagoons  of  pure  water 
fill  the  dry  hollows,  and  all  things  living  rejoice  in  the 
transformation. 

Most  of  that  month  Johns  and  I  remained  at  the  ranch, 
branding  calves,  looking  up  the  stock,  and  generally 
getting  matters  straight.  In  our  spare  time  we  amused 
ourselves  fishing,  and  shooting  turkeys,  deer,  peccary, 
etc. ;  but  as  I  have  already  described  sport  on  the  Frio, 
I  do  not  propose  to  do  so  again.  Johns  was  very  keen  on 
what  he  called  "  gunning,"  or  hunting,  and,  when  I  was 
too  busy,  or  too  lazy,  to  go  with  him,  would  often  sally 
forth,  mounted  on  his  old  Mexican  pony,  by  himself  ; 


314  IN    COMMAND    AT    LAST 

and  a  queer  figure  he  looked — something  like  the  im 
mortal  Don  of  blessed  memory. 

One  evening  he  returned  from  one  of  these  solitary 
trips,  a  stranger  figure  than  usual.  What  he  had  done 
with  himself  I  couldn't  ma\e  out  at  first,  but  as  he  drew 
near,  I  saw  he  had  stripped  off  his  pantaloons  and  in 
them  was  carrying,  in  front  of  him,  a  young  fawn  he 
had  captured.  It  was  tied  up  as  in  a  sack,  but  objected 
most  strongly  to  this  mode  of  conveyance,  and  struggled 
so  violently  that,  just  as  he  got  into  the  corral,  it  burst 
its  bonds  asunder,  leaving  the  pants  torn  and  ripped 
almost  beyond  repair. 

Johns'  face  was  a  study  as  he  ruefully  turned  over 
and  examined  his  ruined  nether  garments  ;  but  pre 
sently  he  dropped  them  and  set  off,  with  his  shirt  tails 
flying  in  the  breeze,  in  pursuit  of  his  fawn,  which,  left 
to  itself,  was  making  off  out  of  the  corral.  The  little 
thing  was  quite  young,  so  Johns,  with  the  help  of  one 
of  the  Mexicans,  soon  ran  it  down  ;  but  the  chase  whilst 
it  lasted  was  most  comical.  The  pants  were  apparently 
beyond  repair,  but  the  old  fellow  was  both  persevering 
and  ingenious,  and  stitched  them  together  somehow  ; 
mdeed  he  had  to,  for  at  the  moment  they  were  the  only 
pair  he  owned. 

He  was  a  great  hand  at  tanning  alligator-skins,  making 
them  quite  soft  and  pliable.  As  there  were  plenty  of 
the  brutes  in  the  river,  he  kept  all  hands  on  the  ranch 
supplied  with  excellent  leather  for  mocassins,  besides 
selling  quite  a  quantity  of  the  skins  in  San  Antonio,  where 
they  were  in  great  demand. 

One  day  about  this  time,  riding  home  to  the  ranch, 
I  saw  a  number  of  buzzards  hovering  over  the  edge  of 
the  chaparral,  a  sure  sign  something  lay  dead,  so  turned 
out  of  my  way  to  see  what  it  was,  and  was  rewarded  by 
finding  a  fine  fat  buck,  just  killed  by  a  panther.  It  was 
in  such  splendid  condition  that  I  took  the  liberty  of 
helping  myself  to  a  good  bit  of  the  loin,  which  I  tied 


PIEDRAS    NEGRAS  315 

behind  my  saddle  and  carried  home.  I'm  afraid  when 
the  founder  of  the  feast  returned  he  didn't  find  much  left, 
for  by  the  time  I  had  loaded  up  my  share  of  the  spoils, 
about  fifty  buzzards  were  hard  at  work  on  the  remainder, 
and  it  wouldn't  take  them  long  to  pick  the  bones. 

In  the  beginning  of  August  I  rode,  with  a  friend,  to 
Eagle  Pass  on  the  Rio  Grande,  160  miles  West  of  San 
Antonio.  It  is  a  small  town,  chiefly  inhabited  by 
Mexicans,  and  just  across  the  river  is  the  Mexican  pueblo 
of  Piedras  Negras.  It  is  a  port  of  entry,  through  which 
a  good  deal  of  cotton  always  passed  into  Mexico,  and  this 
had  been  largely  increased  by  the  war,  and  consequent 
blockade.  Though  a  miserable  one-horse  place,  the 
war  had  brought  it  a  good  deal  of  trade  of  one  sort  and 
another,  and  the  object  of  my  trip  was  to  see  if  I  couldn't 
sell  my  friend  the  Alcalde  of  Piedras  Negras  some  of  my 
beeves  for  the  Mexican  market. 

He  received  us  most  hospitably,  putting  us  up  very 
comfortably,  for  his  house  was  the  best  in  the  place, 
and  he  was  a  man  of  some  wealth.  What  was  more 
important  to  me,  he  said  he  could  take  a  good  lot  of 
my  cattle,  and  would  come  over  to  the  ranch,  in  a  week 
or  two's  time,  to  get  them. 

In  Piedras  Negras  quite  a  number  of  renegades  and 
deserters  from  the  Confederate  service  had  congregated, 
and  seemed  to  have  things  pretty  much  their  own  way 
there.  I  was  well  enough  known  to  many  of  these  gentry, 
some  of  whom  assumed  rather  a  threatening  aspect ;  so  I 
took  care  to  be  well  armed  with  a  couple  of  six-shooters 
whenever  I  went  out  in  the  town.  Lucky  for  me  I  did,  for 
one  morning  I  got  into  a  crowd  of  about  twenty  of  them, 
and  was  told  my  name  was  down  on  a  black  list  of  men 
who  were  doomed  ;  that  sooner  or  later  they  would 
"  get  "  me,  and  then  drive  my  stock  over  into  Mexico. 

I  was  in  a  pretty  tight  place,  one  against  twenty 
ruffians,  but  my  only  chance  was  to  put  a  bold  face  on  it. 
So  I  whipped  out  my  six-shooters  and  faced  the  lot  of 


316  IN    COMMAND    AT    LAST 

them,  saying,  "  You'll  never  have  a  better  chance  to  get 
me  than  now,  but  the  first  one  that  handles  his  weapon 
is  a  dead  man.  Hands  up  every  one  of  you,  or  I'll 
loose  off  !  "  Up  went  the  hands  like  one,  and  I  saw 
they  were  either  cowed  by  my  getting  first  draw,  or  else 
by  good  luck  were  all  unarmed  at  the  moment — the 
latter,  probably.  Just  then  the  Alcalde  and  two  of  his 
friends  turned  into  the  plaza  and,  seeing  what  was  in 
the  wind,  joined  me  at  once. 

Now,  having  some  backing,  though  I  don't  know  that 
my  friend  the  Alcalde  was  much  of  a  fighting  man,  I 
turned  to  the  crowd,  that  still  stood  "  hands  up  "  before 
my  levelled  six-shooters,  saying  :  "If  you  want  my 
cattle,  and  dare  to  come  for  them,  I  promise  you  a  good 
time  before  you  get  them,  and  I'll  meet  you  half  way  if 
I  know  you're  coming.  Now  you  can  get."  And  they 
went.  But  when  Don  Miguel  Ramos,  the  Alcalde, 
heard  what  had  taken  place,  he  agreed  with  me  that  a 
longer  stay  in  Piedras  Negras  would  not  be  healthy  ; 
so  before  my  friends  the  deserters  could  organise  an 
attack,  which  no  doubt  they  would  have  done  under 
cover  of  night,  we  cleared  out,  and  saw  no  more  of  them. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  Frio  we  met  a  Mexican,  who 
said  a  large  band  of  Indians  had  been  seen  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  the  day  before,  and  were  supposed  to  be  still 
in  the  country.  We  kept  on,  but  rode  very  cautiously, 
making  no  fire,  even  at  night.  I  was  very  uneasy, 
wondering  what  had  happened  at  the  ranch,  and  whether 
Johns  had  heard  the  news  and  penned  my  horses  in 
time.  On  the  last  day  of  the  journey  my  uneasiness 
was  not  relieved  by  coming  across  fresh  sign  of  a  very 
large  band.  However  I  had  been  most  fortunate  again, 
for  the  Comanches  had  passed  my  ranch  some  miles  to 
the  right ;  probably  because  they  had  got  what  they 
wanted  lower  down  the  river.  Johns  had  seen  nothing 
of  them,  but  had  heard  they  were  in  the  country,  and 
had  taken  the  precaution  to  pen  the  horses. 


MUSTANG    BREAKING  317 

I  found  a  party  of  Mexicans  waiting  for  me  at  the 
ranch  with  a  large  bunch  of  mustang  mares,  just  caught, 
which  they  wanted  to  sell  me.  I  declined  the  offer, 
for  full-grown  mustangs  can  never  be  tamed  in  a  wild 
country  like  that,  and  as  soon  as  the  clogs  are  taken  off, 
make  for  the  prairie  and  their  old  haunts  again.  They 
are  pretty  little  creatures,  running  between  twelve  and 
thirteen  hands  high,  and  when  caught  quite  young, 
and  very  carefully  gentled,  make  very  good  cattle-ponies, 
being  active  as  cats,  and  wonderfully  tough.  But  a 
full-grown  mustang,  fresh  off  the  prairie,  is  about  as 
wild  a  thing  as  you  can  imagine  ;  yet  the  Mexican 
vaqueros,  in  their  high  peaked  and  cantled  saddles, 
with  a  blanket  rolled  in  front,  to  keep  their  knees  down, 
generally  contrive  to  stick  on. 

The  animal  is  blinded,  and  the  fore-leg  strapped  up. 
The  Mexican  vaults  lightly  into  the  saddle,  pulls  off  the 
blind,  the  mustang  is  let  go,  and  the  fun  begins.  With 
arched  back,  and  head  between  his  fore  feet,  if  he  can 
get  it  there,  the  little  animal  jumps  all  ways  at  once, 
whilst  his  rider  drives  in  those  awful  spurs,  and  plies 
his  "  quirt,"  to  try  to  get  him  into  a  gallop.  Once  he 
succeeds  in  that,  the  fight  is  won,  for  he  never  lets  him 
stop  whilst  he  has  a  kick  left  in  him. 

But  the  next  time  he  is  mounted,  much  the  same 
performance  goes  on,  and  a  mustang  never  becomes 
what  you  would  call  "  a  mount  for  a  nervous  gentle 
man  "  ;  not  even  a  horse-dealer  could  conscientiously 
so  describe  him,  I  think. 

At  the  end  of  August  my  friend  the  Alcalde  from 
Piedras  Negras  turned  up  for  the  cattle,  and  stayed  with 
me  a  week  whilst  we  were  hunting  them  for  him.  During 
this  hunt  a  wild  steer  came  very  near  doing  for  me. 
He  charged  right  at  me,  and  as  my  horse,  usually  a  very 
good  one  at  the  game,  turned  to  avoid  the  rush,  he 
stumbled.  In  a  moment  the  steer  was  on  us,  and  over 
and  over  we  went  in  a  confused  heap  of  man  and  horse. 


318  IN    COMMAND    AT    LAST 

When  I  came  to  myself,  on  a  lounge  in  the  house,  I 
was  surrounded  by  all  the  Mexicans  in  the  establishment ; 
the  women  kicking  up  no  end  of  a  row,  and  declaring, 
"  Es  muerte !  el  pobre  senor  !  "  But  I  wasn't  dead, 
or  anything  like  it — only  stiff  all  over,  as  if  I  had  been 
well  beaten ;  and  it  was  some  days  before  I  could  get  up 
into  the  saddle  again.  It  seems  that  just  as  the  steer 
bowled  us  over,  one  of  the  Mexicans,  riding  close  behind 
me,  roped  him,  and  so  stopped  his  charging  again  ;  prob 
ably  so  saving  my  life. 

Every  evening  of  his  stay  the  Alcalde,  who  had  a  great 
gift  that  way,  entertained  us  with  Mexican  "  cuentos," 
or  tales  ;  many  of  them  very  good,  and  all  well  told. 
It  is  quite  a  custom  with  these  people  to  yarn  like  this  ; 
and  in  that  out-of-the-way  country,  where  there  are  no 
books  or  newspapers,  and  where  none  could  read  them  if 
there  were  any,  they  will  gather  together  in  some  friend's 
house  and  listen  nearly  all  night  to  a  good  narrator. 

The  stories  I  fancy  are  traditions  handed  down  from 
father  to  son  perhaps  for  centuries,  for  many  of  them 
have  their  locale  in  old  Spain  ;  though  most  of  them  have 
their  scene  in  Mexico,  and  are  tales  of  hunting,  cattle- 
raiding,  love  and  war,  and  vendettas  fought  out  between 
neighbouring  pueblos. 

I  traded  with  the  Alcalde  to  our  mutual  satisfaction, 
and  he  and  his  peons  drove  off  a  fine  lot  of  fat  beeves, 
whilst  I  received  a  good  solid  sum  in  hard  dollars  ;  so 
that,  for  the  first  time  for  many  a  day,  I  had  cash  to 
the  good,  and  began  to  lay  by  money,  which  I  hoped 
steadily  to  increase  if  things  kept  right.  If  only  peace 
could  be  restored,  and  the  frontier  be  protected  from 
Indian  and  guerilla  raids,  I  felt  confident  of  ultimate 
success.  But  alas  !  there  was  no  such  good  fortune  for 
me.  The  South  was  determined  to  accept  no  terms  short 
of  independence,  and  the  North  was  equally  resolute 
not  to  grant  it. 

The  fall  was  a  very  seasonable  one  ;    my  cattle  were 


I    RAISE    A    COMPANY  319 

flourishing,  and  increasing  rapidly,  and  I  had  high  hopes 
of  being  able  to  run  over  to  England  in  the  coming  spring, 
if  only  for  a  short  visit.  But  these  pleasant  dreams 
were  soon  dispelled,  for  in  the  month  of  October  1863 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  passed  an  ordinance  render 
ing  all  able-bodied  men  between  twenty  and  fifty  years 
of  age  liable  to  serve,  either  in  the  Confederate  army 
or  with  the  State  troops.  In  fact  it  was  universal 
conscription,  and  I  was  wondering  how  soon  I  should  be 
called  out,  and  what  service  I  should  have  to  join,  when 
I  received  an  order  from  Governor  Murrough  to  enrol 
a  company  for  the  protection  of  the  adjacent  frontier 
and  the  upper  Rio  Grande.  Accompanying  it  was  a 
commission  as  Civil  Magistrate  for  the  district.  Though 
the  company  was  to  be  raised  primarily  for  frontier 
service,  it  was  liable  to  be  ordered  anywhere,  or  against 
any  enemy,  at  the  sole  discretion  of  the  Governor. 

The  service  was  a  popular  one  amongst  the  frontiers 
men,  who  had  suffered  so  terribly  in  life  and  property 
from  the  raids  of  Mexican  guerillas  and  Indians,  so  I 
soon  enlisted  and  enrolled  the  requisite  number  of  eighty 
men.  Each  man  brought  his  own  horse  and  arms, 
for  which  he  was  paid  by  the  State,  as  soon  as  mustered 
in — in  paper,  of  course.  As  soon  as  the  enrolment 
was  complete,  I  ordered  the  men  to  hold  an  election  for 
officers,  and  was  very  much  pleased  and  flattered  when 
they  elected  me  to  command  them  ;  the  more  so  as  the 
election  was  perfectly  free  and  independent  on  their 
part,  and  was  managed  by  ballot,  so  that  no  unfair 
pressure  could  be  applied  by  anybody. 

I  may  say  at  once  that  I  was  very  proud  of  my  little 
command  ;  for  all,  or  nearly  all,  were  good  and  tried 
frontiersmen,  well  mounted  and  armed,  and  ready  to 
go  anywhere  and  do  anything  in  the  way  of  fighting. 
Certainly  there  wasn't  a  finer  body  of  men  in  all  the 
State  of  Texas,  and,  if  I  had  to  soldier,  I  was  content 
to  do  so  in  their  company. 


CHAPTER    IX 

A   LONG   SCOUT 

MY  company  was  not  attached  to  any  regiment,  so  I 
had  no  "  ranking  officer,"  as  they  say  out  West,  and 
was  my  own  commanding  officer,  and  indeed  was,  for 
a  long  time,  the  sole  authority,  civil  or  military,  in  a 
very  wide  district. 

I  didn't  bother  my  men  with  much  drill ;  it  was 
sufficient  for  me  that  they  could  ride,  and  shoot,  and 
perform  the  simplest  evolutions,  which  I  held  were 
the  three  essentials  for  an  irregular  corps  such  as  ours. 

The  first  service  we  were  sent  on,  was  to  go  to  the 
assistance  of  Colonel  Benavides,  who,  with  a  force  of 
State  troops,  was  holding  Lorado,  on  the  middle  Rio 
Grande,  against  a  threatened  attack  by  Yankees  and 
Mexican  guerillas.  My  orders  were  to  report  myself 
to  the  Colonel  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  as  he 
was  daily  expecting  to  be  attacked  by  a  force  much 
stronger  than  his  own.  The  distance  was  just  over 
two  hundred  miles,  and  we  did  it  in  four  and  a  half 
days,  arriving  before  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  river. 
Though  there  was  no  fight,  for  the  mongrel  crew  of 
Yankees  and  guerillas,  as  soon  as  our  presence  was 
known,  cleared  out,  yet  our  forced  march  was  not  in 
vain.  As  they  retreated  down  the  Mexican  side  of  the 
river,  we  could  not  of  course  follow  them,  though  my 
fellows  were  very  keen  to  have  a  go  at  th^m. 

After  a  week's  rest  at  Lorado  we  returned  to  the  Frio 
district,  and  had  only  been  back  a  few  days  when  news 
reached  me  that  a  big  band  of  Indians  had  been  killing, 

320 


IN    PERMANENT    CAMP  321 

and  raiding  horses,  some  miles  to  the  north  of  us. 
The  next  morning  we  started  in  pursuit,  and  the 
following  day  hit  the  trail,  a  very  plain  one,  made,  my 
trailer  said,  by  at  least  one  hundred  Indians,  driving 
nearly  double  that  number  of  horses.  But  they  had  a 
week's  start  of  us,  and  ride  as  we  might,  we  couldn't 
catch  up  with  them.  So  after  a  ten  days'  ride,  which 
took  us  right  up  into  the  mountains,  we  had  to  turn 
back,  being  nearly  out  of  provisions,  and  none  being 
procurable  in  that  wild  country,  though  fortunately 
there  was  plenty  of  water.  The  weather  was  very  cold, 
and  the  men  suffered  a  great  deal  from  that,  and  from 
scanty  rations.  It  is  no  joke  sleeping  on  the  ground,  with 
only  one  small  blanket  over  you,  when  the  frost  is  keen 
enough  to  freeze  the  pools  and  water-holes,  but  my  fellows 
bore  it  all  without  a  murmur.  Of  course  I  fared  exactly 
as  they  did,  and  doing  everything  I  could  for  then*  comfort, 
I  believe  became  popular  with  the  whole  command. 

December,  I  think,  was  the  coldest  month  I  ever  ex 
perienced  in  Texas,  for  even  down  on  the  prairies  we 
had  constant  frosts,  severe  enough  to  freeze  the  shallow 
pools  and  lagoons.  It  was  cruel  work  camping  as  we 
usually  did,  and  sleeping  on  the  bare  ground  with  only 
the  sky  for  shelter,  so  I  formed  a  permanent  camp 
for  the  company  a  few  miles  up  the  Frio.  It  was  situated 
in  a  sheltered  hollow  hard  by  the  river,  handy  for  water, 
and  where  the  boys,  if  they  took  the  trouble,  could 
get  plenty  of  fish,  and  game  of  all  sorts.  All  hands 
working  with  a  will,  good  warm  bush  huts  were  soon 
built,  and  the  men  were  as  comfortable  as  frontiersmen 
ever  expect  to  be  in  their  rough  lives. 

Having  fixed  up  the  camp  to  my  satisfaction,  and 
got  everything  in  good  order,  I  handed  over  the  com 
mand  to  my  1st  Lieutenant,  and  gave  myself  leave  to 
go  down  to  the  ranch  to  spend  Christmas.  I  took  a 
couple  of  the  boys  with  me  who  were  very  keen  to 
see  some  sport  with  a  scratch  pack  of  hounds  1  had 

21 


322  A    LONG    SCOUT 

just  got  out  from  San  Antonio.  They  were  foxhounds, 
originally  brought  down  from  the  Northern  States, 
and  though  perhaps  not  what  you  would  call  here 
"  fashionably  bred,"  were  a  useful  lot,  with  plenty  of 
dash  and  music.  There  were  only  five  couple  of  them, 
but  they  could  bustle  the  big  "  lobos  "  and  smaller, 
though  more  artful,  coyotes,  properly.  My  friend 
Lieutenant  Jack  Vint  on,  of  the  Rangers,  came  up  just 
before  Christmas,  and  we  four  had  many  a  good  gallop. 

We  would  start  of  a  morning,  just  after  sunrise,  when 
the  air  was  beautifully  cool  and  fresh,  and  the  dew  lay 
thick  on  the  prairie  grass.  Dotted  here  and  there  were 
"  motts,"  or  clumps,  of  white  chaparral,  and  big  patches 
of  long  grass,  favourite  lyings  for  both  kinds  of  wolves, 
so  we  hadn't  got  far  to  draw,  and  were  sure  of  a  find. 

The  "  lobos  "  were  great  grey  brutes,  rather  bigger 
than  the  European  wolves  one  sees  at  the  Zoo,  and  go 
a  tremendous  pace.  But  there  was  so  much  game  about 
in  the  country,  and  they,  in  addition,  made  so  free  with 
rny  young  stock,  that  we  generally  found  them  pretty 
full,  and  not  in  condition  to  run  away  from  the  hounds. 
When  empty,  they  certainly  had  the  legs  of  them,  and 
would  make  for  the  dense  chaparral  along  the  river, 
where  they  were  generally  lost. 

The  country,  for  miles  and  miles,  was  open,  rolling 
prairie,  with  no  coverts  on  it  except  the  motts  I 
have  spoken  of,  scattered  here  and  there  at  wide  in 
tervals.  Therefore  if  the  lobo  was  roused  out  on 
the  prairie,  a  few  miles  from  the  brush  on  the  river- 
bottom,  we  were  sure  of  a  good  run  of  perhaps  an  hour 
or  more,  and  at  a  clinking  pace  ;  for  scent  in  the  early 
morning  was  generally  vxery  good,  and  there  were  no 
fences  to  stop  hounds  or  men,  and  no  coverts  big  enough 
for  the  hunted  wolf  to  dwell  in.  Of  course  we  were 
not  always  in  luck's  way,  no  sportsman  ever  is,  but  we 
rarely  went  out  without  having  at  least  one  good  run, 
ending  with  a  kill  more  often  than  not. 


NO    PLACE    FOR    A    VEGETARIAN         323 

By  ten  or  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  sun  grew  too  hot 
to  be  pleasant,  our  day's  sport  was  done,  and  we  made 
for  home,  to  enjoy  the  usual  substantial  breakfast  of 
fried  beef  or  deer  meat,  or  wild  turkey,  with  perhaps 
a  dish  of  delicious  fresh-caught  fish.  The  only  accom 
paniment  to  these  viands  was  the  everlasting  corn  bread  ; 
and  the  drink  was  strong  coffee.  We  had  no  vegetables, 
for  no  one,  American  or  Mexican,  ever  thought  of  growing 
any,  in  Western  Texas  at  least.  At  certain  seasons  of 
the  year  however  the  Mexicans  used  to  gather  the  young 
flower  stalks  of  the  magie  plant,  and  the  tender  shoots 
of  the  nopal,  or  prickly  pear,  when  they  were  about  as 
large  as  a  hen's  egg.  Both  of  them  were  very  good 
boiled,  especially  the  latter,  which  has  a  flavour  of 
asparagus  about  it.  At  first,  I  confess,  one  misses 
vegetables  very  much  ;  and  bread  and  meat  day  after 
day,  for  months  together,  gets  somewhat  monotonous, 
but,  pace  the  vegetarians,  it  can't  be  an  unwholesome 
diet,  for  many  Americans,  and  vast  numbers  of  Mexicans, 
lived  and  thrived  on  it,  and  it  alone,  for  years. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  people 
who  lived  on  this  diet  led  active  lives  in  the  open  air, 
otherwise  it  might  not  have  suited  them  so  well. 

Early  in  January  1864  I  received  an  order  to  send  a 
detachment  of  twenty-five  of  my  men  to  join  a  Major 
Hatch,  and  serve  with  him  in  an  expedition  into 
the  Indian  territory,  away  up  in  the  mountains  to  the 
north-west.  The  detachment  was  to  go  under  com 
mand  of  my  1st  Lieutenant,  whilst  I  remained  on  the 
frontier  with  the  rest  of  the  company. 

The  Comanches  had  been  more  troublesome  than 
usual,  and  had  raided  the  upper  settlements,  murdering, 
burning  ranches,  and  driving  off  stock  wholesale.  The 
authorities  therefore  determined  they  should  be  rigor 
ously  followed  up,  and  the  war,  if  possible,  carried  into 
the  enemy's  country,  for  a  change  ;  more  especially  as, 
contrary  to  custom,  the  Indians  had,  on  this  occasion, 


324  A    LONG    SCOUT 

carried  off  some  unhappy  women  and  children  captives 
with  them. 

The  season  of  the  year  was  most  unfavourable  for 
such  an  expedition,  which  I  knew  must  be  most  trying 
for  the  men  ;  and  knowing  more  of  Indian  fighting, 
and  of  the  country,  than  my  Lieutenant,  I  determined 
to  go  myself.  Accordingly  I  reported  myself  in  Major 
Hatch's  camp  two  days  after  the  receipt  of  the 
order.  He  had  fifty  men  with  him,  fairly  mounted,  but 
very  inferior  to  my  boys  in  every  other  respect. 

The  next  day  I  was  sent  on  ahead  with  my  men, 
to  impress  cattle  for  the  command,  which  had  to  be 
driven  along  with  us  for  provisions.  Having  every 
thing  ready  I  awaited  the  command  at  a  creek  called 
Piedra  Pinta,  where,  the  very  morning  of  its  arrival, 
I  learned  that  the  fresh  trail  of  a  large  band  of  Indians 
going  down  to  the  lower  settlements  had  been  seen  just 
to  the  east  of  us.  I  urged  the  Major  to  stay  where  he 
was  with  his  command,  to  guard  the  passes  into  the 
mountains,  whilst  I  sent  an  express  to  my  company 
to  take  the  trail,  when  if  they  didn't  come  up  with  the 
Indians  themselves,  they  would  probably  drive  them 
into  our  hands.  But  he  knew  better,  or  thought  he  did, 
and  insisted  on  following  the  trail  himself. 

Of  course  I  could  only  obey,  but  I  sent  an  express  to 
my  second  in  command,  ordering  him  to  get  on  the  trail 
forthwith  and  follow  it  as  fast  as  he  could.  If  he  had 
only  obeyed  his  orders,  he  most  likely  would  have  driven 
the  Comanches  back  to  us  ;  but  he  too  knew  better, 
and  instead  of  following  the  trail  struck  across  country 
to  where  he  thought  the  Indians  would  make  for,  in 
tending  to  waylay  them  on  their  return.  The  savages 
however,  thinking  my  whole  company  had  gone  on  the 
expedition,  took  their  time,  killed  three  men,  drove 
off  a  good  "  caballado,"  and  made  their  exit  by  another 
route,  to  the  intense  disgust  of  the  boys.  So  much  for 
making  cocksure  of  knowing  the  movements  of  Indians  ! 


INDIAN    SKETCHES  325 

We  of  Major  Hatch's  command  of  course  missed  the 
Indians  too,  and  they  got  off  scot  free.  We  had  also  lost 
valuable  time  in  this  wild-goose  chase,  and  the  original 
raiding  band  we  set  out  after  had  of  course  distanced  us 
completely,  so  that  we  had  no  chance  of  coming  up  with 
them  before  they  got  back  to  their  fastnesses. 

Now,  to  add  to  our  difficulties,  we  were  called  off  on 
another  false  scent,  which  Major  Hatch  followed  with 
alacrity.  He  had  sent  a  scouting  party  up  to  Presidio, 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  who  returned  with  a  yarn  that  two 
companies  of  Federal  troops  from  California  were 
coming  down  on  Fort  Lancaster,  on  the  Pecos,  and 
even  now  must  have  taken  it.  I  told  him  I  didn't 
believe  a  word  of  it,  since  the  man  who  would  attempt 
to  march  an  unsupported  force  like  that  right  across 
from  California,  at  that  season  of  the  year,  was  only 
fit  for  an  asylum.  But  he  wouldn't  listen  to  reason. 
So  to  Fort  Lancaster  we  went,  a  week's  march  there 
and  back,  only  to  find  the  whole  story  was  a  hoax,  and 
no  Yankees  were  within  hundreds  of  miles  of  the  place  ! 
After  a  brief  rest,  which  we  were  obliged  to  give  the 
horses  after  this  useless  marching  and  counter-marching, 
we  returned  to  Piedra  Pinta,  there  to  resume  our  original 
scout  into  the  Indian  country. 

Piedra  Pinta,  as  the  Texans  called  it,  though  it  was 
properly  "  Piedra  Pintada,"  or  Painted  Rock,  was  a 
fast-running,  shallow  creek  flowing  for  some  distance 
between  steep  cliffs,  on  many  of  which  were  paintings 
made  by  the  Indians.  Some  of  these  were  mere  signs, 
left  by  a  raiding  band,  to  give  information  to  their  com 
rades  who  might  pass  that  way.  But  others  were  rude 
sketches  of  the  white  men  they  had  slain,  and  the  scalps 
and  other  trophies  they  had  taken  in  their  raids.  The 
colours  they  invariably  used  were  red,  white,  and  blue, 
but  how  they  obtained  them  I  don't  know. 

The  weather  grew  colder  and  colder  as  we  left  the 
lowlands,  till  at  last,  when  we  were  well  in  the  mountains, 


326  A    LONG    SCOUT 

we  all  suffered  much  from  it,  for  from  the  nature  of  the 
service  we  could  carry  no  extra  clothing,  and  had  but 
one  blanket  apiece.  Moreover  we  were  obliged  to  be 
very  sparing  with  our  rations  to  make  them  last  out 
the  trip.  The  second  day's  march  took  us  well  beyond 
the  farthest  settlements,  and  that  night  we  camped  at 
the  San  Felipe  springs,  which  are  the  most  remarkable 
I  ever  saw.  They  are  the  sources  of  a  small  stream 
of  the  same  name  which  runs  into  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
the  two  of  them  rise  from  the  bottom  of  an  immense 
rock-basin.  The  water,  which  is  said  to  be  unfathom 
able  in  depth,  is  a  beautiful  clear  blue  colour,  and  full 
of  mountain  trout.  What  the  depth  really  is  I  don't 
know,  but  I  heaved  in  a  good  big  rock,  and  watched 
it  sink  down  and  down  in  the  crystal  pool  till  it  dwindled 
to  a  speck  and  then  vanished,  apparently  without 
touching  bottom.  What  a  splendid  site  for  a  cattle 
ranch  this  spot  was  !  for  there  was  the  best  of  water, 
and  all  the  surrounding  land  for  many  miles  carried,  even 
at  that  season,  a  great  crop  of  grass. 

Our,v  next  camp  was  at  Devil's  River,  where  were  more 
Indian  paintings,  only  this  time  in  a  cave.  They  were 
much  the  same  as  those  at  Piedra  Pintada,  though  one 
quite  recent  artistic  effort  had  apparently  been  made 
for  our  special  benefit,  as  it  depicted  quite  a  large  number 
of  warriors  with  their  bows  and  arrows,  many  of  them 
carrying  what  looked  like  scalps. 

We  had  now  reached  a  fine  game  country,  and  in  the 
ravines  running  back  from  the  river  saw  many  bears  ; 
whilst  now  and  then  a  herd  of  antelopes,  headed  by  some 
veteran  leader,  would  come  galloping  up  to  within  thirty 
yards  or  so,  stand  stock  still  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then, 
having  satisfied  their  curiosity,  scamper  off  as  fast  as 
they  came,  in  ever- widening  circles.  Scanty  as  our 
rations  necessarily  were,  the  boys  were  sorely  tempted 
to  shoot  some  of  the  antelopes,  and  I  had  hard  work  to 
stop  them.  On  such  business  as  we  were  engaged  in, 


COMANCHE    DELICACIES  327 

it  would  have  been  madness  to  run  the  risk  of  alarming 
Indian  scouts,  who  for  all  we  knew  might  be  lurking 
near  by.  So  the  game  went  untouched,  and  the  boys 
grumbled,  but  obeyed  orders. 

At  this  camp  some  of  the  boys  brought  me  lumps  of  ice, 
many  inches  thick,  as  a  curiosity.  I  should  have  been 
better  pleased  if  they  could  have  brought  some  fuel ; 
for  all  we  had  were  some  stalks  of  dry  "  bears'  grass," 
and  what,  in  border  lingo,  are  called  "buffalo  chips." 
These  together  were  barely  sufficient  for  cooking  purposes, 
and  left  no  surplus  for  warming  our  chilled  blood. 

Near  our  next  camp,  by  a  big  water-hole  called  "  Yellow 
Banks,"  from  the  colour  of  the  water,  we  found  fresh 
Indian  sign,  and  the  remains  of  a  recently  slaughtered 
horse.  These  Comanches  esteem  horse-marrow  the 
greatest  delicacy  in  the  menu,  and,  epicures  that  they 
are,  will  often  kill  an  animal  for  the  marrow  in  its  bones, 
leaving  the  rest  of  the  carcase  for  the  buzzards  and 
coyotes.  These  latter  follow  hard  on  the  Indians' 
trail  to  pick  up  any  unconsidered  trifles  left  behind  in 
their  camps,  and,  artful,  sneaking,  furtive  brutes  that 
they  are,  somewhat  closely  resemble,  in  many  of  their 
ways,  the  "  humans  "  they  scavenge  for. 

I  think  I  have  already  mentioned  that  all  these  Indians 
in  Texas  are  fond  of  horse  flesh,  preferring  it  to  beef  ;  but 
what  they  like  best  of  all  is  mule  flesh,  so  the  owner  of  a 
mule  in  these  parts  has  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out,  if  he 
doesn't  want  to  have  it  run  off.  In  my  time  the  stock 
men  didn't  go  in  much  for  mules,  as  they  are  no  good  for 
cattle-running,  but  there  were  plenty  of  them  in  Mexico. 

Our  next  march  lay  over  "  Deadman's  Pass,"  a  steep 
and  narrow  defile  in  the  mountains  on  the  trail  to  El 
Paso,  on  the  Rio  Grande.  At  this  spot,  a  couple  of  years 
before,  a  considerable  party  driving  cattle  into  Mexico 
had  been  waylaid  by  the  Comanches,  and  killed  to  a  man  ; 
hence  its  ill-omened  name.  It  was  the  very  place  for 
such  an  ambush,  for  the  steep  mountain  sides  that  closed 


328  A    LONG    SCOUT 

in  on  the  track  were  strewn  with  huge  boulders,  and 
two  hundred  resolute  men  could  easily  have  held  it 
against  two  thousand. 

A  few  miles  beyond  the  pass  we  struck  the  Devil's 
River  again,  close  to  Fort  Hudson,  which  before  the  war 
had  been  a  U.S.  post  capable  of  accommodating  two 
companies  of  cavalry.  It  was  now  a  complete  ruin, 
everything  but  the  adobe  walls,  which  wouldn't 
burn,  having  been  burnt  by  the  Indians.  Wandering 
round  the  ruined  fort,  I  came  on  the  little  graveyard 
hard  by  it,  the  last  resting-place  of  some  dozen  brave 
fellows  who  had  once  guarded  this  solitary,  far-away 
outpost  of  civilisation,  and  probably  had  fallen  victims 
to  their  crafty  foes.  Once  carefully  tended,  the  graves, 
and  the  simple  mementos  at  their  heads,  were  rapidly 
falling  to  decay,  like  their  unconscious  tenants,  and  one 
sadly  wondered  what  were  the  life-stories  lying  buried 
in  that  neglected  spot,  and  whether  those  who  perchance 
still  mourned  their  loss  knew  of  their  desolate  resting- 
place,  where  only  the  mournful  wolves  and  weird  owls 
sang  their  dirges. 

Passing  on  from  this  melancholy  ruin,  we  marched  up 
the  valley  of  the  river  and  camped  that  night  at  Peccan 
Spring,  a  noble  basin  of  clear  blue  water,  though  not 
so  fine  as  the  San  Felipe.  Here  again  were  abundant 
Indian  sign,  comparatively  fresh,  and  we  began  to  hope 
that  we  might  before  long  come  up  with  the  band.  Here, 
too,  was  more  game  than  ever,  antelope  and  javaline 
(wild  hogs)  being  very  numerous.  Buffalo  sign  were  all 
round  the  springs  too,  and  now  on  the  hillsides  we  began 
to  see  a  few  black-tailed  deer,  a  large  species  with 
tufted  tails,  which  is  only  found  in  the  mountains  near 
the  upper  Rio  Grande.  As  we  rode  along  we  often 
flushed  coveys  of  quail,  of  which  there  are  many  varieties 
in  Texas,  the  most  beautiful  being  a  rather  large  one 
with  a  glossy  blue  head  and  neck  and  silvery  specks 
on  the  body-feathers. 


A    WONDERFUL    TRAILER  329 

As  the  Indian  sign  was  so  very  plain,  and  the  band 
couldn't  be  very  far  ahead  of  us,  I  was  ordered  to  take 
sixteen  of  my  boys  to  scout  on  the  trail  and  bring 
back  what  information  I  could  glean  to  Major  Hatch, 
who  remained  in  camp  with  the  rest  of  the  command. 
We  took  no  pack-animals,  but  just  four  days'  rations  in 
our  malletas,  and  with  us  went  the  best  trailer  and 
Indian  fighter  I  have  ever  met  in  all  my  frontier  service. 
This  was  Dan  Westfall  of  the  Leona,  so  called  from  a 
terrible  adventure  that  befell  him  in  a  little  cabin  he 
owned  on  that  creek. 

In  some  ways  he  much  resembled  Fenimore  Cooper's 
hero  "  Deerslayer  "  in  his  mode  of  life,  for  he  had  made 
his  living  by  hunting  and  trapping  on  the  borders  of  the 
Indian  country,  and  was  in  great  request  as  a  guide 
whenever  Indians  were  to  be  followed.  No  trail  was  too 
indistinct,  or  difficult  for  him,  and  he  was  up  to  every 
dodge  and  manoeuvre  of  the  wily  Red  Man.  With  the 
old-fashioned  long  Kentucky  rifle,  which  he  always 
carried  over  his  shoulder,  whether  afoot  or  on  horse 
back,  he  was  a  dead  shot,  and  being  as  cool  a  hand  in  a 
tight  place  as  ever  I  met,  was  invaluable  for  such  work 
as  we  were  engaged  on.  He  was  remarkably  "  still 
of  his  tongue,"  and  it  was  rarely  one  could  get  him  to 
talk  of  his  doings  ;  but  now  and  then,  sitting  round  the 
camp  fire,  when  the  day's  work  was  done,  he  would  open 
out  to  one  or  two  friends,  and  was  always  worth  listening 
to.  On  one  such  occasion,  on  this  very  trip,  I  got  him  to 
tell  the  story  of  his  escape  on  the  Leona,  and  a  wonderful 
one  it  was,  which  perhaps  it  may  be  interesting  to  tell 
in  another  chapter,  when  we  have  done  with  this  scout. 

I  kept  the  trail  with  Westfall  and  another  guide, 
about  three  hundred  yards  ahead,  the  rest  following  in 
Indian  file.  The  country  consisted  of  stony,  bare 
ridges,  with  only  here  and  there  a  little  brush,  and  the 
trail  on  such  hard  ground  was  not  easy  to  follow.  But 
Westfall  kept  on,  hour  after  hour,  and  never  seemed  for 


330  A    LONG    SCOUT 

one  moment  in  doubt,  even  when  to  eyes  like  ours, 
accustomed  to  Indian  sign,  no  vestige  of  a  trail  was 
visible.  His  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  ground  as  he  rode 
along,  never  speaking  a  word,  never  turning  or  hesitating  ; 
it  was  more  like  a  hound  following  a  line  with  unerring 
nose,  than  a  human  being  guided  by  vision. 

That  night  we  camped,  as  soon  as  the  light  failed  us, 
without  water,  on  one  of  these  bare  ridges,  and  I  took 
my  turn  of  guard  with  the  rest.  Nor,  when  it  was  over, 
could  I  sleep  ;  for  I  knew  the  Indians,  in  unknown 
numbers,  were  not  far  off,  and  in  such  an  exposed  position 
a  surprise  would  have  been  fatal.  Soon  after  we  started 
in  the  morning,  I  saw,  far  away  to  the  south-west,  two 
columns  of  smoke,  some  miles  apart,  rising  straight  up 
in  the  still  morning  air.  I  touched  Westfall  on  the  arm, 
and  pointed.  "  As  I  thought,"  he  said,  "  the  darned 
critters  are  making  for  beyond  the  Pecos.  A  bad  country 
to  follow  'em  in  :  too  much  brush."  Presently  the  smoke 
disappeared  ;  the  fires  had  been  put  out,  and  the  Indians 
were  on  the  move  again. 

All  that  day  we  rode  on  over  much  the  same  country, 
following  each  other  in  Indian  file,  silent  and  alert. 
Much  the  same,  only  with  this  addition,  that  now  we 
were  in  a  region  where  every  sort  of  scrubby,  prickly 
cactus  grew  and  flourished,  and  made  riding  a  difficulty. 
The  commonest  kind  was  one  the  boys  called  the  "  bayonet 
cactus,"  a  sturdy  thing  growing  only  about  six  inches 
high,  but  studded  with  thorns  as  stiff  and  as  sharp  as 
a  penknife.  Do  what  they  would  the  unfortunate 
horses  couldn't  help  treading  on  them,  and  several  were 
badly  lamed,  notably  one  of  the  two  I  had  with  me. 

No  water  the  previous  night  and  no  water  all  day 
had  given  us  all  a  pretty  bad  thirst,  the  unfortunate 
horses  suffering  even  more  than  their  riders.  But  just 
before  nightfall  the  trail  led  us  to  a  rocky  basin  that 
held  enough  water  to  give  us,  horses  and  all,  a  good  drink 
round,  and  then  to  fill  our  canteens.  The  Indians  had 


SWIMMING    EL    RIO    PUERCO  331 

camped  here,  and  killed  and  eaten  a  cow,  as  we  thought, 
about  two  days  before.  So  it  was  evident  they  were 
taking  things  leisurely  and,  so  far,  had  no  idea  they  were 
being  followed.  After  a  couple  of  hours'  rest  I  therefore 
started  again  and  marched  on  well  into  the  night,  by  the 
light  of  a  brilliant  moon,  camping  at  last  not  far  from  the 
Pecos  River. 

"  Pecos  "  is  a  corruption  of  the  Mexican  name  for  the 
stream,  which  is  Rio  Puerco,  or  Pig  River — I  presume  from 
the  dirty  colour  of  its  waters  and  the  muddy  character 
of  its  banks. 

When  next  day  the  trail  led  us  to  the  river  the  prospect 
was  not  inviting,  for  the  current  ran  strong  and  deep, 
and  quite  150  yards  wide.  On  our  side  there  was  no 
timber  to  make  rafts  ;  so  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
a  swim  in  the  ice-cold  water,  and  some  of  the  boys 
couldn't  swim  at  all.  These,  and  indeed  some  of  the 
others,  were  very  unwilling  to  cross  under  these  condi 
tions,  so  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  give  them  a 
lead,  which  I  knew  they  wouldn't  refuse  to  follow. 

After  some  prospecting  up  and  down  stream,  I  at 
last  found  a  place  where  the  banks  shelved  on  either 
side  and  there  was  only  about  fifteen  yards  of  swimming 
to  be  done.  Here  we  crossed  safely,  and,  what  is  more, 
kept  our  arms  and  provisions  dry.  Of  course  we  all, 
swimmers  and  non-swimmers,  kept  hold  of  our  horses ; 
but  two  of  the  latter,  in  their  fright,  let  go,  and  were 
nearly  drowned,  when  we  fished  them  out  with  our 
"  lariats."  It  was  a  great  relief  when  all  were  safely 
over,  and  I  confess  that,  though  not  one  of  those  who 
hanker  after  a  fight,  I  would  rather  have  fought  Indians, 
or  anything  else,  under  fair  conditions,  than  swim  that 
stream.  We  were  of  course  as  wet  as  drowned  rats,  and, 
to  add  to  our  discomfort,  a  cold  drizzling  rain  set  in,  so 
that  our  plight  was  miserable  enough  for  the  rest  of  that 
day.  But  what  befell  us  across  the  Pecos  must  be 
reserved  for  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER    X 


WHEN  we  had  straightened  up  a  bit  after  the  crossing, 
we  rode  on  again  for  about  two  hours  through,  as  Westfall 
had  foretold,  a  brushy  country  with,  here  and  there, 
a  little  timber  on  it.  A  risky  country  to  follow  Indians 
in  with  so  small  a  force  as  mine.  Every  man  therefore 
kept  his  loaded  rifle  unslung  and  we  advanced  very 
slowly,  with  scouts  out  wide  on  either  flank,  and  Westfall 
and  myself  following  the  trail  well  ahead  of  the  rest. 
In  this  order  we  crossed  a  wide  shallow  stream,  the 
name  of  which  was  unknown  to  any  of  us,  with  still 
thicker  brush  on  the  far  side. 

It  was  now  growing  dusk,  and  I  therefore  halted  my 
party  in  a  mott  of  thickish  timber,  where  we  might 
have  some  chance  of  defending  ourselves  if  attacked. 
Though,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  there  was  no  Indian  sign 
about,  I  took  every  precaution  to  guard  against  a  sur 
prise.  The  horses  were  picketed  just  inside  the  mott, 
and  four  sentries  were  posted  a  short  distance  outside  it. 
The  drizzling  rain  still  fell  and  the  moon  was  hidden 
behind  heavy  clouds,  so  that  there  was  but  little  light, 
which  was  in  our  favour  ;  for  if  we  were  attacked,  the 
enemy  couldn't  see  us  in  our  shelter. 

Now  the  boys,  thoroughly  drenched,  and  miserably 
cold,  begged  so  hard  for  a  fire  to  boil  some  coffee  on,  that 
against  my  better  sense  I  consented,  and  a  small  one  was 
lighted  in  the  centre  of  the  mott.  The  coffee  certainly 
was  very  grateful,*;  and  seemed  to  me  the  most  delicious 
brew  I  ever  tasted  ;  but  it  nearty  cost  us  our  lives.  The 

332 


ON    THE    DEFENSIVE  333 

coffee  done,  I  saw  the  fire  put  out,  and  then  the  boys 
lay  down  to  sleep  if  they  could  ;  but  not  before  I  had 
given  them  strict  orders  that  no  one  was  to  fire  a  shot, 
or  even  to  utter  a  sound  without  my  orders,  if  by  chance 
we  were  attacked. 

Presently  all  was  still  in  the  camp,  and  not  a  sound 
was  to  be  heard  save  the  stamping  of  the  horses  and 
the  heavy  breathing  of  the  weary  men,  who,  cold  and 
wet  notwithstanding,  seemed  fast  asleep.  It  was  not 
my  turn  for  guard,  which  I  always  took  with  the  rest,  but 
I  felt  so  uneasy,  partly  on  account  of  that  blessed  fire, 
that  I  couldn't  sleep.  So  I  spent  the  weary  hours  of 
that  long  night  creeping  as  noiselessly  as  I  could  round 
the  outskirts  of  the  mott,  and  occasionally  visiting  the 
sentries,  to  make  sure  they  were  on  the  alert. 

It  must  have  been  towards  morning,  though  still 
quite  dark,  and  I  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  the  sentry 
on  the  lower  side,  when  I  heard  some  of  the  horses  give 
quick,  uneasy  snorts,  and  in  another  moment  the  sentry 
on  the  upper  side  came  running  in  with  an  arrow  sticking 
in  the  fleshy  part  of  his  arm.  The  other  three  got 
back  unharmed  in  double  quick  time,  and  sooner  than 
it  takes  to  tell,  the  boys  were  aroused,  and  standing  to 
arms. 

No  word  was  spoken  on  our  side,  and  as  noiselessly  as 
possible  I  had  the  horses  brought  into  the  middle  of  the 
mott,  out  of  harm's  way. 

Peering  out  in  the  dim  light  one  could  see  the 
Comanches  were  a  strong  band,  probably  150  in  number, 
some  few  of  whom  were  armed  with  rifles.  Evidently 
they  didn't  know  our  strength,  or  our  weakness,  and 
their  game  was  to  find  it  out  if  possible.  They  came, 
yelling  and  screaming,  at  full  gallop  up  to  within  twenty 
or  thirty  yards  of  our  shelter,  and  then  halting,  poured 
in  a  volley  from  their  bows  and  rifles.  We  all  this 
time  stood  silently  behind  the  cover  of  the  trees,  and 
suffered  no  harm  from  the  shooting. 


334  WESTFALL'S    STORY 

Finding  they  couldn't  draw  our  fire,  and  not  caring 
to  charge  in  on  us  while  our  rifles  were  loaded,  they 
ceased  firing,  and  set  to  work  cursing  and  taunting  us 
as  cowards,  in  very  voluble  Mexican.  One  big  buck 
Indian,  who  stood  not  t\venty  yards  from  me,  was 
certainly  a  master  of  the  art  of  cursing,  and  so  irritated 
me  that  I  was  sorely  tempted  to  drop  him  in  his  tracks. 
All  the  time  he  orated  and  jumped  about,  flourishing 
his  tomahawk,  I  had  him  covered  with  my  rifle,  and 
how  my  fingers  itched  to  pull  the  trigger  !  But  better 
sense  prevailed,  and  I  let  him  scream  on  unharmed. 

With  a  power  of  language  I  cannot  hope  to  repro 
duce,  he  anathematised  us  as  cowards,  including  in 
the  same  category  all  our  relations  paternal  and  maternal ; 
then  told  us  how  many  scalps  and  horses  there  were 
in  their  camp,  if  we  dared  to  go  and  get  them.  All 
this  time  I  neither  spoke  nor  moved,  only  watched  my 
friend,  finger  on  trigger,  and  rifle  at  the  ready. 

Standing  a  few  yards  from  my  post  was  a  young 
and  excitable  Irishman  named  McCarthy.  Up  to 
now  he  had  held  his  tongue,  and  stood  quite  still,  like 
the  rest  of  us  ;  but  when  the  big  buck  shifted  his  ground 
opposite  to  McCarthy,  and  appeared  to  address  his 
uncomplimentary  remarks  to  him  personally,  it  was 
more  than  his  Celtic  blood  could  stand  in  silence.  He 
couldn't  speak  Spanish,  or  Mexican,  as  we  always  called 
the  lingo,  but  he  knew  that  "  cobarde  "  meant  coward, 
and  he  wasn't  going  to  be  called  that  for  nothing.  Out 
he  jumped  from  behind  his  cover,  and  shouted  in  the 
richest  of  Cork  brogues  ;  "  Coward  bedad  am  I,  ye  red 
divvil  ?  I'll  let  ye  see  !  "  and  was  going  to  pot  my 
friend  the  buck  with  his  rifle.  But  the  moment  he 
spoke,  and  almost  before  he  had  finished  his  defiance, 
a  rifle  shot  rang  out  from  amongst  the  band  of  Indians, 
and  over  went  poor  Pat.  I  thought  he  was  killed  to  a 
certainty,  for  he  lay  quite  still  for  a  few  minutes.  Pre- 
sentty.  however,  he  scrambled  to  his  feet  and,  picking 


MCCARTHY  SILENCED  335 

up  his  rifle,  beat  a  hurried  retreat  to  his  tree,  with  all 
the  talk  knocked  out  of  him.  He  had  had  a  most 
wonderful  escape,  for  the  bullet  had  struck  the  broad 
brass  clasp  of  his  pistol-belt  in  a  glancing  direction,  and, 
save  that  all  the  wind  was  knocked  out  of  him,  he  was 
unhurt. 

I  think  it  must  have  been  about  two  hours  that  the 
Comanches  kept  up  this  infernal  din,  during  which  time 
the  boys  obeyed  orders,  and  neither  answered  nor 
returned  the  fire.  Then,  quite  puzzled  by  our  silence, 
the  Indians  drew  off  to  their  own  camp,  to  my  great 
relief.  All  that  time  I  made  sure  they  would  charge 
in  on  us  every  minute,  and  had  they  done  so,  but  few, 
if  any,  would  have  lived  to  tell  the  tale  of  that  night's 
leaguer. 

I  don't  quite  know  why  they  didn't  charge,  but  Indians 
are  very  wary  and  suspicious  beings,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
fathom  their  motives.  Probably  they  thought  we  must 
be  a  strong  party,  having  followed  them  so  far  up  country  : 
then  our  absolute  silence,  and  the  holding  of  our  fire, 
possibly  made  them  suspect  we  were  waiting  for  day 
light  to  attack  them  with  greater  advantage.  Any 
way  they  cleared  out,  and  when  I  came  to  reckon  up 
the  casualties,  found  that  only  three  horses  and  the 
sentry  had  been  wounded  by  arrows,  and  none  of  them 
seriously. 

We  remained  in  our  position  for  some  hours,  and  it 
was  not  till  after  I  had  very  carefully  reconnoitred  the 
surrounding  brush,  to  make  sure  the  enemy  had  really 
retired,  that  I  moved  my  little  party  out  and  drew 
off  in  the  direction  of  the  Pecos  again.  Very  warily 
and  cautiously  we  retreated,  not  feeling  sure,  for  the 
first  day  or  two,  that  the  Comanches  were  not  following 
us.  I  did  not  take  the  back  trail,  but  struck  higher 
up  the  river,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  better  crossing, 
which  we  eventually  did,  and  returned  to  camp  in  six 
days,  where  I  reported  my  doings  to  the  Major. 


336  WESTF  ALL'S    STORY 

We  had  pretty  nearly  finished  our  provisions  before 
we  started  back,  but  managed  well  enough  on  coffee 
once  a  day,  and  antelope  meat,  without  bread  of  any 
sort.  By  the  by,  I  think  this  class  of  venison  is  about 
the  meanest  stuff  you  can  find  in  the  shape  of  meat, 
being  lean  and  dry  and  tasteless  to  a  degree.  It  took 
us  six  days'  steady  marching  to  rejoin  the  command, 
for  our  horses  were  a  good  deal  done  up,  and  several 
had  been  lamed  by  the  bayonet-cactus  thorns. 

As  soon  as  we  had  got  well  away  from  the  Comanche 
band  and  there  was  no  longer  any  fear  of  their  following 
us,  we  made  ourselves  as  comfortable  as  circumstances 
would  permit,  and,  when  wood  could  be  found,  indulged 
ourselves  with  good  camp-fires  at  night.  Round  these 
we  smoked  and  yarned  far  into  the  night,  if  the  fire 
was  good  enough  ;  for  all  of  us  were  frontiersmen,  and 
most  of  us  had  had  experiences  of  one  kind  or  another, 
and  more  or  less  interesting.  But  none  of  us  could 
compare  with  Dan  Westfall,  whose  life  for  nearly  thirty 
years  had  been  one  of  adventure  ;  first  on  the  prairies 
of  the  great  West,  amongst  the  Sioux  Indians  ;  then 
on  the  wide  stretching  plains  between  the  Missouri  and 
the  Rockies,  even  before  the  most  adventurous  emigrant 
had  dared  to  push  his  way  across  that  awful  desert. 
When  tired  of  killing  buffalo  for  their  "  robes,"  he 
had  hunted  grizzlies  on  the  foothills  of  the  Rockies, 
and  slain  many  a  wapiti  and  mountain  sheep  on  the 
higher  slopes.  These  were  his  pastimes,  or  lighter 
occupations  ;  his  serious  business  was  that  of  trailer, 
or  guide,  to  many  an  out-of-the-way  U.S.  post  or  fort 
on  the  confines  of  civilisation.  And  it  was  that  business 
that  brought  him  down  to  Texas,  a  few  years  before  the 
war,  moved  thereto  by  one  of  the  officers  with  whom 
he  had  served,  and  who  was  taking  over  one  of  the 
posts  on  the  Rio  Grande  frontier. 

On  this  scout  across  the  Pecos,  Westfall  and  I  had 
camped  together,  and  shared  each  other's  rations.  I 


ROUND    THE    CAMP    FIRE  337 

had  known  him  for  some  time,  and  had  always  admired 
his  sterling  qualities  and  indomitable  pluck,  but  in  the 
closer   intimacy   of   this   expedition    quite   a   friendship 
had  sprung  up  between  us,  which  lasted  till  1  left  the 
country.     It  was  the  night  before  we  rejoined  the  com 
mand,   and  Westfall,  Jack  Vinton  and  I  were  enjoying 
the  warmth  of  a  good  big  fire  in  a  sheltered  hollow, 
whilst  we  smoked  and  chatted.     The  talk  was  chiefly 
between  Vinton  and  myself,  for  the  hunter  was,  as  usual, 
more  inclined  to  listen  than  to  use  his  tongue.     We  were, 
I  remember,   discussing  the  tactics  of  the  Comanches, 
when  they  had  us  penned  in  that  mott,  and  Vinton  said  : 
"  If  they  hadn't  been  cowards  they  would  have  rushed 
us   out   of   that   fast   enough."     Then    Westfall   spoke. 
"  Don't  you  run  your  head  agin  that  idea,  Jack,  or  it'll 
likely   bring  you   to  trouble  afore  long.     Injuns  is  no 
cowards,  but  they're  skeery  o'  traps — skeery  as  wolves. 
That's   how   them   Lepans   didn't   raise    my   har,    over 
on  the  Leona.     They  suspicion ed  it  was  a  trap."      '  Tell 
us  the  story,  Dan,"  I  said,  "  and  I'll  brew  another  pan 
of  coffee,  if  you  will."     And  he,  probably  because  he 
was  in  a  talkative  mood  for  a  wonder,  told  us  the  follow 
ing  yarn,  which  I  will  retell  in  my  own  language  : 

About  six  years  before,  Westfall  was  living  on  a  small 
ranch  on  the  Leona  Creek,  about  thirty  miles  from  the 
Frio.  With  him  lived  a  Frenchman,  who  was  his  sole 
companion  ;  both  were  bachelors,  and  of  course  looked 
after  themselves.  Though  in  Texan  parlance  the  place 
was  called  a  "  ranch,"  it  was  merely  a  two-roomed 
cabin,  the  walls  of  which  were  split  poles,  and  the  roof 
"  clap-boards,"  or  riven  timber.  It  was  enclosed  by  a 
fence  of  stout  pickets,  forming  a  small  yard  round  it. 
There  were  no  windows,  and  the  floor  was  of  beaten 
earth  ;  just  such  a  poor  little  place  as  was  common 
enough  in  those  days  on  the  outskirts  of  civilisation. 
When  not  engaged  as  trailer,  or  guide,  for  one  of  the 
frontier  posts,  Westfall  and  his  friend  spent  their  time 

22 


338  WESTFALL'S    STORY 

in  hunting  deer  and  antelope,  or  the  wild  cattle  which 
were  then  pretty  plentiful  in  the  thickets  of  the  Leona, 
varying  these  occupations  by  trapping  wolves  and 
other  "  varmint  "  for  their  skins. 

It  was  a  lovely  spot  he  had  chosen  for  his  cabin, 
as  I  can  testify  ;  for  hard  by,  the  Leona  ran  between 
high  banks,  shaded  by  splendid  walnut  and  "  Peccan  " 
trees,  whilst  in  front  stretched  the  boundless  prairie, 
shining  golden  in  the  setting  sun-light.  Before  the 
cabin  stood  a  giant  live-oak,  and  almost  from  beneath 
its  roots  bubbled  up  a  clear,  cool  spring  of  water. 

Now  the  Leona  was  the  centre  of  the  old  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Lepan  Indians,  and  was  a  district  much 
frequented  by  them  even  in  those  days.  But  Westfall 
was  too  well  used  to  Indians  of  all  sorts,  and  their  ways, 
to  be  scared  at  them  ;  nevertheless  he  never  stirred  out 
unless  armed  with  his  deadly  Kentucky  rifle  and  six- 
shooter,  and  kept  a  wary  eye  open  for  any  sign  of  their 
presence,  thereby  often  giving  timely  notice  to  out 
lying  settlers  that  they  were  in  the  country.  It  was 
perhaps  not  an  ideal  location  for  a  nervous  man,  but 
then  Westfall  wasn't  troubled  with  that  complaint  ; 
and  as  game  was  abundant,  and  it  was  handy  for  his 
scouting  work  with  the  U.S.  troops,  the  place  suited 
him  well  enough. 

He  and  his  chum  had  lived  in  the  cabin  nearly  a  year, 
without  molestation,  when  one  morning  in  the  early 
summer  time  they  returned  from  fishing  in  the  creek  to 
rest  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  The  trees  were  in 
summer  foliage,  and  the  moon  was  at  the  full,  a  time 
that  Indians  always  choose  for  their  raids  ;  but  no 
fresh  sign  had  been  seen,  and  neither  of  them  had 
any  suspicion  that  the  Lepans  were  out  on  the  war 
path. 

The  water-bucket  was  empty,  and  the  Frenchman 
stepped  out  to  the  spring,  just  beyond  the  fence,  to 
fill  it.  As  he  turned  back  to  enter  the  yard,  an  appalling 


A    GRIM    FIGHT    FOR    LIFE  339 

Indian  yell  burst  from  the  thicket  behind  him,  and  he 
dropped  his  bucket  and  ran  for  his  life.  But  he  had 
no  chance  ;  the  Indians  had  made  sure  of  their  victim, 
and  he  fell,  transfixed  by  three  arrows,  mortally  wounded 
at  Westf all's  feet,  who,  the  moment  he  heard  the  yell, 
had  jumped  to  the  door,  rifle  in  hand,  to  cover  his  friend's 
retreat.  As  he  did  so  his  favourite  dog,  a  large  and 
fierce  one,  dashed  out  to  attack  the  Indians,  but  presently 
crawled  back  with  an  arrow  through  his  body.  His 
master,  who  had  already  dragged  the  wounded  French 
man  inside,  opened  the  door  to  let  the  poor  dog  in, 
and  received  a  bullet  wound  in  his  thigh  and  two  arrows 
in  his  body.  The  Lepans,  seeing  he  was  hit,  made  a 
dash  for  the  house,  but  Westf  all,  who  was  an  unerring 
shot  with  the  rifle,  dropped  two  of  them  in  their  tracks, 
and  the  rest  fell  back  for  the  moment,  giving  him  time 
to  close  the  door.  Fortunately  there  were  three  loaded 
rifles  in  the  house,  and,  in  addition,  his  own  and  the 
Frenchman's  six-shooter. 

His  respite  was  but  brief,  for  the  Indians,  recovering 
from  their  check,  burst  into  the  yard  again  with  furious 
yells.  But  Westf  all,  wounded  as  he  was,  meant  to  sell 
his  life  dearly  ;  and  if  he  was  to  die,  many  "  braves  " 
would  die  with  him.  Firing,  through  the  openings  be 
tween  the  picket  wall,  the  two  loaded  rifles,  and  then 
emptying  his  revolver  into  the  crowd,  he  killed  one  and 
badly  wounded  several  more,  and  once  again  the  savages 
gave  way,  with  howls  of  rage  and  terror.  Then  he 
reloaded  his  weapons  as  quickly  as  he  could,  and,  for 
a  few  minutes,  knelt  by  the  wall — for  already  he  was  too 
weak  to  stand — grimly  awaiting  the  next  assault.  He 
had  no  hope  of  escape,  for  outside  the  fence  were  a  couple 
of  dozen  Lepans,  howling  for  his  blood  ;  and  he  was  alone 
with  his  dead  friend,  and  his  dead  dog,  and  gradually 
growing  weaker  and  weaker  from  loss  of  blood.  Faintly 
to  his  ears  came  the  sound  of  the  Indians'  shouts  and 
taunts,  and  their  challenges  to  the  supposed  defenders 


340  WESTFALL'S    STORY 

to  come  out  and  fight ;   then  all  was    silence,  for  he  had 
swooned. 

How  long  he  lay  in  that  deathly  swoon  he  didn't  know, 
but  when  he  recovered  consciousness  the  moonlight  was 
shining  in  between  the  crevices  of  the  wall,  and  all  was 
still.  As  he  slowly  raised  himself  on  one  arm,  for  he 
was  weak  and  faint  from  loss  of  blood,  a  bar  of  light  fell 
across  the  upturned  face  of  the  dead  Frenchman  by  his 
side,  and  he  remembered  what  had  happened.  But 
why  the  Indians  hadn't  scalped  him  and  his  friend  he 
couldn't  understand ;  they  certainly  hadn't,  for  his 
hair  was  still  upon  his  head. 

If  they  were  really  gone  they  must  have  thought,  from 
the  rapid  firing,  and  their  heavy  losses,  that  several  men 
were  in  the  house,  and  so  dared  not  attack  again.  Then 
too  the  dead  silence  that  followed  the  last  volley,  when 
Westfall  had  fainted,  probably  made  them  fear  a  trap, 
of  which  they  are  always  suspicious.  But  the  first  thing 
to  be  done  was  to  draw  the  arrows,  and  staunch  his  still 
bleeding  wounds  ;  then  he  would  crawl  out,  and  see  how 
the  land  lay. 

He  took  a  drink  of  whiskey,  which  fortunately  was 
handy,  and  then,  with  desperate  pain,  pulled  out  the 
arrows,  and  bound  up  his  wounds  with  strips  of  his 
shirt.  Next,  after  a  brief  rest,  he  opened  the  door, 
and,  trailing  his  rifle  after  him,  crawled  out  into  the 
yard.  There  lay,  close  to  the  door,  a  dead  Lepan, 
with  his  arms  by  his  side  as  he  fell.  He  no  doubt  was 
the  last  one  killed  ;  the  other  two  had  been  removed. 
Dragging  himself  outside  the  yard,  he  saw  his  other  two 
hounds  lying  lanced  and  dead  ;  and  all  around  tracks 
of  blood  were  visible  in  the  moonlight,  left  by  the 
wounded  savages. 

He  lay  long  with  his  ear  to  the  ground.  Sound  there 
was  none  save  the  nameless  voices  of  the  night,  and  the 
distant  howling  of  the  coyotes.  The  Lepans  seemed  to 
have  gone. 


A    MAN    OP    IRON    WILL  341 

Exhausted,  and  almost  hopeless,  he  got  back  to  the 
cabin  and  laid  himself  down  on  his  bed  till  daylight 
came.  He  was  parched  with  thirst,  and  there  was  no 
water  in  the  house  ;  but  drink  he  must,  so  dragged 
himself  to  the  spring,  and  drank  long  and  deeply,  and 
was  refreshed.  All  that  day  he  lay  on  the  bed,  thinking 
what  he  should  do.  It  was  clear  he  couldn't  remain 
long  in  the  house  with  those  two  ghastly  companions, 
and  he  hadn't  strength  to  remove  them. 

The  nearest  place  where  he  could  get  help  was  Fort 
Inge,  and  that  was  nearly  thirty  miles  away.  It  was 
hopeless  to  drag  his  wounded  limb  that  weary  road  ; 
better  to  die  where  he  was,  or  crawl  into  the  brush  and 
hide  himself  there,  like  some  stricken  animal.  That 
was  his  first  thought ;  then  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the 
man  revived,  and  he  resolved  to  try  that  awful  journey. 
He  knew  he  couldn't  possibly  do  it  unaided,  but  there 
was  the  bare  chance  a  scouting  party  might  find  him  ; 
and  it  was  at  any  rate  better  to  die  on  the  road  than  in 
that  awful  place. 

Having  made  up  his  mind,  he  ate  a  little  of  the  cooked 
food  which  luckily  was  in  the  house,  and  lay  quiet  till 
nightfall.  It  would  be  cooler  travelling  by  moonlight, 
and  the  Indians,  if  still  in  the  neighbourhood,  would 
be  less  likely  to  see  him.  As  soon  as  it  was  dark  then, 
he  took  his  six-shooter,  a  little  dried  venison,  a  large 
flask  with  whiskey,  which  he  filled  up  with  water  at  the 
spring,  and  set  off  to  crawl  to  the  fort.  Did  ever  such 
a  traveller  before  attempt  such  a  journey  ? 

For  two  days  and  nights  he  dragged  himself  along 
on  hands  and  knees,  tortured  with  pain  and  parched 
with  thirst,  such  thirst  as  only  the  badly  wounded  know. 
Then,  even  his  iron  nature  could  no  more,  and  he  lay 
down,  as  he  thought,  to  die,  under  the  shade  of  a  live- 
oak,  by  the  side  of  the  trail,  ten  miles  from  his  ranch. 
There,  when  all  hope  had  vanished,  he  was  found  by  a 
scouting  party  from  the  fort,  who  had  heard  that  the 


342  WESTFALL'S    STORY 

Lepans  were  out,  and  was  on  the  road  to  the  Leona  to 
pick  up  the  trail. 

A  rough  litter  was  soon  fixed  up,  and  he  was  tenderly 
carried  into  the  fort,  where  he  arrived  more  dead  than 
alive.  But  the  post  surgeon  was  a  skilful  man,  and 
Westfall  had  a  marvellous  constitution,  so  he  recovered, 
and  in  about  three  months'  time  was  busy  with  his 
hunting  and  his  Indian  trailing,  just  as  if  nothing  had 
happened. 

This  was  the  story  he  told,  and  I  believe  every  word  of 
it  was  true  ;  for  I  had  heard  long  before  at  Fort  Inge  of 
how  he  was  found  on  the  trail,  and  carried  thither  in 
that  awful  plight. 

When  he  had  finished,  he  handed  me  his  beloved  rifle. 
"  Count  them  notches  under  the  stock  cap,"  he  said  ; 
there's  one  for  every  Lepan  I've  wiped  out  with  her  since 
that  day,  an'  I  guess  I'm  nearly  level  with  the  varmints 
now."  There  were  fourteen  tallies  on  the  stock,  and 
room  for  more ! 

The  Westfall  ranch  was  deserted,  and  wholly  gone  to 
ruin  and  decay,  when  last  I  saw  it,  but  just  before  what 
had  been  the  door  was  a  grassy  mound,  beneath  which 
sleeps  the  hapless  Frenchman  ;  and  at  its  head  a  rude 
cross  placed  there  by  Westfall  in  memory  of  his  dead 
friend. 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE   DESERTERS   SURRENDER 

WHEN  we  returned  to  the  command,  we  found  it  had 
been  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  a  Mexican  Company 
under  the  command  of  a  Captain  Pattinia,  who  knew 
the  Rio  Grande  country  pretty  well.  The  Major  was  so 
uplifted  by  this  accession  of  strength  that  he  was  greatly 
minded  to  march  off  to  Fort  Lancaster  again,  to  attack 
another  imaginary  force  of  "  Feds"  said  to  be  in  that 
neighbourhood.  This  time,  however,  we  managed  to 
dissuade  him  from  such  a  wild-goose  chase,  and  got  him 
to  set  about  our  legitimate  business  of  Indian-hunting  ; 
not  that  I,  for  one,  had  much  hope  of  catching  them 
with  such  an  unwieldy  command  as  ours,  operating  in 
such  a  country  as  they  had  retired  to. 

We  marched  for  Beaver  Lake,  at  the  head  of  Devil's 
River,  and  camped  there  at  2  p.m.  on  the  second  day, 
halting  thus  early  since  that  was  the  last  water  we  should 
touch  for  fifty  miles.  We  had  not  been  camped  more 
than  an  hour  when  the  picket-guard  came  riding  in  to 
report  that  a  small  party  of  Indians  had  been  seen  driving 
a  band  of  horses.  They  were  coming  in  the  direction 
of  the  lake,  and  would  pass  the  head  of  the  ravine  in  which 
our  camp  was  placed,  and  which  completely  hid  us  from 
their  view.  In  a  moment  every  one,  from  the  Major 
down,  was  in  a  frantic  state  of  excitement ;  men  were 
running  hither  and  thither,  saddling  their  horses  and 
setting  out  to  attack  the  Indians,  without  any  order  or 
method. 

Seeing  that  this  confusion  could  only  end  in  letting 

343 


344  THE    DESERTERS    SURRENDER 

the  Indians  escape,  I  got  the  Major  to  let  me  halt  and 
dismount  all  but  twenty  picked  men,  and  to  take  up 
a  position  with  them  at  the  entrance  to  the  ravine,  where 
was  plenty  of  cover  for  an  ambush.  Having  placed  my 
men,  who  were  mounted,  and  with  rifles  unslung,  so 
that  the  Indians  couldn't  well  escape  us,  I  climbed  up 
a  small  rise  and  peered  through  the  brush  to  watch  for 
the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Presently  the  party,  ten  in 
number,  driving  a  lot  of  horses  before  them,  turned  the 
shoulder  of  a  hill  and  entered  the  valley  I  was  watching. 
They  were  quite  half  a  mile  away,  but  I  saw  at  a  glance 
they  were  not  Indians,  but  white  men,  from  the  way  they 
sat  their  horses.  When  I  saw  this  I  formed  my  men 
across  the  ravine,  and  as  the  strangers  came  into  sight 
round  another  corner,  rode  out  and  ordered  them  to  halt. 

In  a  moment  they  wheeled  about,  and  bolted  as  hard 
as  they  could  gallop  up  the  valley,  and  we  after  them, 
helter  skelter.  The  horse  I  was  riding  was  fast  and  the 
men  soon  began  to  string  out  behind  me,  till  there  were 
only  five  at  all  near.  As  soon  as  I  was  within  hailing 
distance  I  ordered  them  to  halt,  or  I  would  fire,  and 
they  at  once  dashed  into  a  thick  mott,  with  open 
timber  round  it.  There  they  dismounted,  and  looked  as 
if  they  meant  to  make  a  fight  of  it.  Things  looked  ugly. 
But  I  was  anxious  to  avoid  useless  bloodshed,  so  I 
waved  my  handkerchief  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and  rode  up 
to  within  some  fifty  steps  of  their  position  and  called 
on  them  to  surrender,  promising  their  lives  should  be 
safe  if  they  did  so.  No  answer  came,  but  all  their  rifles 
were  covering  me ;  and  the  position  wasn't  pleasant,  for 
one  or  more  of  them  might  have  gone  off  by  accident. 

Meanwhile  my  boys  were  coming  up  in  twos  and 
threes,  and  presently  the  leader  of  the  party  stepped  to 
the  front,  still  with  his  rifle  at  the  ready,  and  asked 
who  it  was  that  called  on  him  to  surrender,  and  whose 
command  it  was.  I  told  him  my  name,  but  said  nothing 
about  Hatch  (whose  reputation  for  good  faith  was 


JUST    IN    TIME  345 

not  of  the  best),  feeling  sure  that  I  had  sufficient  influence, 
backed  by  my  own  boys,  to  enforce  due  observance  of 
my  promise. 

The  Major  was  coming  up  now,  with  fifty  of  his  men ; 
so,  if  the  men  were  to  be  spared  from  immediate  hanging, 
there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  *  Two  minutes  more,  and 
if  you  don't  surrender  I  attack ;  but  if  you  throw  down 
your  arms,  your  lives  shall  be  spared."  I  pulled  out  my 
watch.  My  twenty  boys  behind  me  were  fingering  their 
rifles,  all  eager  to  charge.  Slowly  those  minutes  passed  ; 
the  leader,  who  seemed  a  determined  fellow,  hesitated 
till  they  were  nearly  gone.  He  glanced  at  the  Major's 
troop  coming  along  at  a  gallop,  and  back  at  his  own  little 
band.  Evidently  he  was  a  real  fighting  man,  and  didn't 
like  the  thought  of  surrendering.  But  just  as  time  ex 
pired,  his  better  sense  prevailed.  He  lowered  his  rifle  : 
"  I  surrender  to  you,  and  accept  your  conditions." 

The  moment  he  spoke,  I  ordered  my  Sergeant  to  take 
their  arms  ;  then  turned  my  horse,  and  galloped  back 
to  meet  the  Major.  '  They  are  either  bushwhackers 
or  deserters,"  I  said ;  "  but  I  have  accepted  their  sur 
render,  and  pledged  my  word  their  lives  shall  be  spared." 

Now  Major  Hatch  had  much  the  same  taste  for 
hanging  defenceless  people  as  the  old  villain  Dunn,  of 
evil  memory,  so  he  received  my  report  with  an  ill  grace  : 
"  You  had  no  right,  I  guess,  to  give  any  such  promise. 
If  they're  deserters,  a  quick  '  look  up  a  tree  '  is  what 
they  deserve  ;  but  I  reckon  you  must  have  your  way, 
else  you'll  git  your  dander  up."  Having  secured  this 
unwilling  consent  I  rode  back  to  the  mott,  where  by 
this  time  the  men  were  disarmed,  and  placed  them  under 
guard  of  my  own  boys.  Then  we  collected  their  horses, 
about  thirty  in  number,  and  marched  back  to  camp. 

I  at  once  spoke  to  my  boys  about  the  prisoners,  telling 
them  I  expected  our  present  commander  would  be  trying 
the  same  game  with  them  that  Dunn  had  so  often  played 
with  other  poor  wretches  before,  but  that  I  relied  on 


346  THE    DESERTERS    SURRENDER 

them  to  prevent  foul  play,  and  to  see  that  my  pledged 
word  was  respected.  ;'  We'll  see  you  through,  Cap,  you 
bet,"  they  all  said  ;  and  I  felt  more  easy  in  my  mind. 
The  prisoners,  it  turned  out,  were  deserters,  and  I  had 
no  sympathy  with  them  ;  all  I  wanted  was  that  they 
should  be  handed  over  to  proper  authority  to  stand  their 
trial,  and  that  I  was  determined  should  be  done. 

I  found,  or  rather  had  good  ground  for  suspecting,  that 
the  old  trick  was  about  to  be  played  with  them.  A  weak 
guard  of  Hatch's  own  men  was  to  be  mounted  over 
them ;  then  some  of  his  ruffians,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
would  take  the  prisoners,  without  resistance  from  the 
guard,  and  hang  them  up  a  little  way  from  camp,  on 
the  plea  that  they  were  trying  to  escape.  I  had  known 
this  done  too  often  by  Dunn,  when  I  had  no  power  to 
prevent  it.  Now  I  had  some  power  I  was  going  to 
put  a  stop  to  it. 

I  went  straight  to  the  Major,  and  told  him  plainly 
that  I  insisted  on  having  these  men  properly  tied,  so 
that  they  couldn't  escape,  and  on  having  a  strong  guard 
mounted  to  protect  them.  He  tried  to  laugh  it  off  ; 
said,  "  If  I  was  so  mighty  fond  of  these  rascals,  how  could 
I  be  so  cruel  as  to  want  to  tie  them  ?  "  Then,  knowing 
my  man  for  the  coward  that  he  was,  I  made  up  my  mind 
there  was  only  one  way  to  secure  my  object,  and  save 
my  honour,  and  that  was  to  commit  right  down  mutiny. 

"  Don't  think,  Major  Hatch,  you  can  fool  me  in 
this  business.  I  know  what's  in  your  mind,  and  in  the 
mind  of  your  confederate,  the  scoundrel  Luck.  Plain 
speaking  is  best  for  us  both.  If  those  prisoners  are 
hanged,  with  your  connivance,  whilst  with  your  com 
mand,  your  life  shall  pay  the  penalty.  Now  see  to  it 
that  I  haven't  to  shoot  you."  He  went  deadly  pale, 
and  I  turned  on  my  heel,  knowing  the  prisoners  wouldn't 
be  hanged  whilst  I  was  alive. 

Luck  was  the  man  who,  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Partizan 
Rangers,  had  been  very  prominent  in  the  massacre  of 


A    WARNING    FOR    MR.    LUCK  347 

the  German  prisoners  after  the  Nueces  fight,  described 
in  a  previous  chapter.  He  was  now  a  private  in 
Hatch's  command,  and  was  hand-in-glove  with  him 
in  this  hanging-plot,  as  I  well  knew.  I  therefore,  to 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  took  an  early  opportunity 
of  telling  him  that  it  would  not  be  good  for  his  health 
to  take  any  part  in  such  doings,  and,  I  think,  convinced 
him  on  that  point. 

The  unfortunate  prisoners  were  quite  aware  of  their 
parlous  position  in  Major  Hatch's  hands,  and  seemed  to 
look  to  me  for  protection ;  so  as  soon  as  I  had  done  with 
the  Major  and  Mr.  Luck,  I  stepped  across  to  the  guard 
and  told  their  leader  that  he,  and  the  rest  of  them,  could 
sleep  in  peace,  for  I  guaranteed  no  harm  would  happen 
to  them.  He  seemed  reassured,  but  said  :  "  If  I'd 
known  that  skunk  Hatch  was  in  command,  I'd 
never  have  give  in,  but  fought  it  out,  as  you  saw 
I'd  a  mind  to.  Stranger,  you  didn't  do  just  fair  not  to 
tell  me,  but  I'll  trust  you  now,  for  I've  no  one  else 
I  can  trust." 

The  following  morning  we  resumed  our  march,  striking 
for  the  Pecos  above  Fort  Lancaster,  in  order  to  beat  up 
the  Indian  camps  from  above,  rather  than  follow  the 
trail  I  had  found,  which  would  have  been  a  roundabout 
road.  Moreover,  the  Major  still  dreamed  there  were 
"  Feds  "  in  that  locality,  and  was  anxious  to  pass  near 
it  on  that  account. 

Very  early  in  the  morning  I  rode  on  ahead  of  the  main 
body,  with  twenty  men,  to  clear  out  a  spring  fifty  miles 
away,  that  Westfall  knew  of,  and  which,  as  it  was  the 
only  water  available  for  nearly  a  hundred  miles,  the 
Indians  would  be  sure  to  fill  up.  We  reached  the  spring 
at  sundown  after  a  thirsty  ride,  and  found  it  filled  up 
sure  enough.  All  hands  set  to  work  to  clear  it,  and  when 
we  had  about  finished  the  command  came  up.  It  was 
now  nearly  10  p.m.,  and  it  took  us  the  rest  of  the  night, 
and  well  on  to  midday  on  the  morrow,  to  water  the  horses 


348  THE    DESERTERS    SURRENDER 

and  stock,  and  even  then  many  of  them  went  short. 
Taking  what  water  we  could  in  our  canteens,  we  made 
another  dry  march  that  afternoon,  with  another  dry 
camp  at  night. 

By  the  middle  of  the  next  day,  riding  over  an  open, 
rough  country  abounding  in  game,  we  reached  a  pretty 
little  running  stream  a  few  miles  above  Fort  Lancaster. 
Here  we  called  a  halt  by  its  pleasant  banks,  and  revelled 
in  an  abundance  of  cool  delicious  water,  and  a  plentiful 
supply  of  wood  for  the  camp-fires.  From  this  spot  I 
was  sent  on  with  a  small  party  to  reconnoitre  Fort 
Lancaster  for  the  Major's  imaginary  "  Feds,"  the  main 
body  of  the  command  following  after  me.  Of  course 
I  found  no  sign  of  the  enemy,  nor  indeed  of  any  other 
living  creature  ;  and  as  to  the  fort  itself,  the  Indians 
had  burned  everything  about  it  that  was  consumable, 
leaving  nothing  but  the  walls  standing,  bare  and  gaunt. 

At  the  confluence  of  the  two  rivers,  and  close  to  the 
ruined  fort,  we  halted  two  days  to  recruit  our  jaded 
stock,  and  here  the  boys  killed  a  great  number  of  ante 
lopes,  and  caught  no  end  of  fish,  so  that  the  camp-kettles 
were  well  filled  for  a  time  at  any  rate.  By  this  time  we 
had  several  men  on  the  sick-list,  and  many  horses  were  so 
done  up  that  they  were  unridable,  and  I  strongly  advised 
that  all  such,  together  with  the  prisoners,  should  be  sent 
back  under  escort,  since  they  hampered  our  movements. 
But  my  commanding  officer  thought  differently  ;  though 
how  he  imagined  sick  men,  lame  horses,  and  prisoners 
could  help  to  catch  Indians,  is  more  than  I  know. 

From  Fort  Lancaster  I  went  on  scout  again  ahead  of 
the  command,  with  sixteen  Mexicans,  detailed  for  the 
duty,  and  seven  Americans  who  volunteered,  Westfall 
again  going  with  me  as  guide  and  trailer. 

I  can't  say  I  was  anxious  to  take  the  "  greasers  "  on 
such  duty,  for  they  are  not  to  be  depended  on  in  a  tight 
place.  However,  it  was  the  Major's  order  they  should 
go,  and  I  had  no  option  in  the  matter.  We  crossed  the 


THE    BEST    MORNING    DRINK  349 

Pecos  by  a  ford  and  made  for  some  Indian  camps, 
located  some  miles  beyond  by  our  scouts,  but  found  them 
deserted.  The  Comanches  build  no  permanent  villages, 
but  being  nomadic  in  their  habits  make  temporary  camps 
where  grass  is  good  and  game  abounds,  and  then  after 
a  while  move  on  to  "  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new." 

The  evening  of  the  second  day,  after  a  dry  and  thirsty 
ride,  we  descended  a  steep  mountain-side,  down  which  we 
could  with  difficulty  lead  our  horses,  and  in  the  valley 
found  a  stream  of  clear  running  water,  with  clumps  of 
timber  on  its  banks.  On  the  mountain- top  was  another 
of  these  curious  Indian  look-outs  :  a  shallow,  wide  cave, 
adorned  with  their  hieroglyphic  paintings  and  signs  of 
all  sorts. 

That  night  we  camped  in  a  mott  convenient  for 
defence,  and,  though  it  was  bitterly  cold,  made  no  fire 
till  an  hour  before  dawn  ;  and  then  only  sufficient  to 
cook  our  dried  beef  and  boil  our  coffee.  Oh  !  that 
morning  brew  of  coffee  !  No  dwellers  of  the  city  can  realise 
half  of  what  it  means  to  the  poor  wretch  who  has  laid 
out  on  one  thin  blanket  in  the  freezing  air  of  the  mountains 
through  the  weary  night,  till  his  teeth  chatter  and  his 
very  blood  seems  congealed. 

The  day  was  as  hot  as  the  night  had  been  cold,  so, 
after  working  up  the  valley  for  some  miles,  in  the  hope 
of  striking  a  leading  trail,  I  pitched  camp  at  midday. 
Having  placed  picket-guards  on  a  mountain-top,  perhaps 
half  a  mile  away,  which  commanded  the  country  for  a 
considerable  distance  round,  I  lay  down  to  take  a  nap. 

But  my  slumbers  were  soon  disturbed  by  one  of  the 
boys  on  picket  coming  in  to  report  that  he  had  seen  an 
Indian  scout  come  riding  down  the  valley,  till  he  reached 
a  point  where  he  could  see  our  staked  horses,  when 
he  had  turned  round  and  galloped  back  for  his  life. 
I  gave  the  order  to  saddle  up  at  once,  and  sent  Westfall 
and  a  couple  of  the  boys  on  to  inspect  the  sign  and 
make  sure  the  picket  was  not  mistaken.  Soon  he  came 


350  THE    DESERTERS    SURRENDER 

riding  back  to  say  there  was  no  mistake,  for  the  sign 
of  an  Indian  horseman  was  plainly  to  be  seen. 

There  was  every  probability  that  this  scout  would 
bring  down  on  us  a  large  party  of  his  friends,  and  the 
"  greasers  "  began  to  get  very  nervous,  as  I  knew  they 
would  at  a  pinch.  I  had  that  morning  sent  back  two  of 
my  boys  to  camp  to  report  my  movements,  and  so  had 
only  five  left.  The  Mexican  Sergeant,  who  seemed 
thoroughly  scared  at  the  prospect  of  a  fight,  begged  to 
be  allowed  to  return  to  the  command  with  his  party, 
to  hurry  it  up  to  our  assistance,  and  when  I  refused, 
seemed  inclined  to  go  without  leave.  This  had  to  be 
put  a  stop  to  at  once ;  so  I  told  him,  and  his  men,  that  if 
any  one  of  them  dared  to  leave  I  would  have  him  shot 
on  the  spot.  This  quieted  them  for  a  bit,  but  I  could 
see  they  were  in  such  a  funk  that,  if  the  Indians  did 
come  down  on  us,  they  would  only  be  in  the  way.  So 
after  talking  it  over  with  Westfall  and  the  other  boys, 
who  were  all  anxious  to  stay,  I  concluded  after  all  to 
let  the  "  greasers  "go.  It  was  by  our  reckoning  about 
thirty-five  miles,  as  the  crow  flies,  to  the  camp,  and  I 
knew  they  would  reach  it  by  midnight,  and  bring  the 
command  to  us  by  the  middle  of  next  day. 

Never  did  men  get  under  weigh  so  quickly  as  these 
did,  when  they  got  the  order  to  go  !  They  were  off  down 
the  valley  like  a  flash  ;  all  but  one,  and  he  was  a  half- 
breed  Indian,  who  hesitated,  and  then  came  back,  say 
ing  he  was  ashamed  to  leave  us.  But  I  had  given  my 
orders,  so  I  told  him  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  obey,  and 
he  must  go  now  with  the  rest. 

The  "  greasers  "  having  departed,  and  the  evening 
drawing  in,  Westfall  and  I  made  up  our  minds  to  look 
out  for  some  defensible  spot,  where  we  might  have  a 
chance  to  hold  our  own,  if  attacked,  as  we  fully  expected 
to  be,  in  the  night.  So  we  rode  up  the  valley  till  we 
came  to  a  very  narrow  ravine,  on  our  left  hand,  shut  in 
by  lofty  precipitous  cliffs  on  either  side  ;  indeed  it  was 


AN    INDIAN   STOREHOUSE  351 

more  like  a  canon  than  a  ravine,  being  only  some  thirty 
yards  wide,  and  not  far  from  its  mouth  grew  some  dwarf 
live-oaks.  We  tied  our  horses  behind  these,  and  felt 
we  had  got  a  position  we  could  defend,  for  some  hours 
at  any  rate,  against  a  hundred  Comanches. 

Two  of  us  stood  guard,  whilst  the  other  three  slept ; 
but  I  confess  I  was  too  uneasy  to  sleep  myself  when  my 
turn  came  ;  for  if  the  Indians  did  find  us,  I  knew  they 
would  never  leave  us  without  taking  our  scalps.  So 
it  was  a  blessed  relief  when  day  broke  at  last,  and  we 
found  ourselves  unmolested.  Promptly  we  saddled  up 
and  followed  the  valley,  looking  for  the  trail  of  the 
Indians  to  whom  the  scout  belonged,  which  I  made  sure 
we  must  hit  before  long.  In  about  an  hour's  time  we 
struck  it,  coming  in  down  a  ravine  that  crossed  our 
valley,  and  heading  for  the  Rio  Grande  country.  It 
was  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  party  was  a  big  one,  driv 
ing  a  lot  of  loose  horses.  Westfall  opined  there  were  not 
less  than  two  hundred  of  them,  and  that  probably  they 
were  the  same  lot  that  had  attacked  us  before.  Pro 
bably  they  had  not  attacked  us  now  because  they  knew 
Alexander's  command  was  on  their  track,  and  they 
wanted  to  push  on  with  their  plunder.  Anyway  we  had 
a  lucky  escape. 

Near  where  we  struck  the  trail,  high  up  on  the 
mountain-side,  one  of  the  boys  on  outlook  duty  found 
by  accident  an  Indian  cave,  used  as  a  kind  of  storehouse. 
In  it  were  several  spare  lances,  cooking-pots,  pairs  of 
leggings  (the  only  article  of  clothing  the  mounted  Co 
manches  wear)  and  many  "  cased  "  hides,  i.e.  hides  scraped 
till  quite  transparent. 

After  following  the  trail  till  we  were  sure  of  the  direc 
tion  to  which  it  was  going,  we  turned  back  to  the  valley 
creek,  to  catch  fish  for  dinner  and  await  the  command. 
Soon  we  had  a  nice  lot  of  mountain  trout  broiling  on 
the  embers  ;  a  feast  indeed  for  hungry  men  whose 
dinners  for  the  past  two  days  had  been  of  the  scantiest. 


352  THE    DESERTERS    SURRENDER 

Just  as  we  had  finished,  up  rode  the  advance  party  of 
the  command,  much  surprised  to  find  us  with  our  scalps 
on.  The  Mexicans  had  told  them  such  a  tale  of  our 
perilous  position  that  they  had  struck  camp  directly 
they  heard  it,  and  had  ridden  all  night  to  our  rescue, 
though  with  little  hope  of  finding  us  alive. 

We  camped  in  the  valley  that  night  to  rest  the  horses, 
and  next  morning  followed  the  trail  over  a  tremendously 
rough,  hilly  country  ;  my  duty  being  to  bring  up  the  rear 
with  the  pack  animals,  beeves,  and  prisoners.  No 
water  all  day,  after  leaving  the  creek,  and  none  at  night, 
and — perhaps  worst  of  all — no  tobacco  left  !  It  was  not 
a  very  cheerful  state  of  things,  for  I  was  too  thirsty  to 
eat  anything,  and  was  just  lying  down  to  seek  forget- 
fulness  in  sleep,  when  I  was  startled  to  hear  shots  and 
shouts  in  the  direction  of  the  guard.  Running  there,  I 
found  that  the  ten  prisoners  had  made  a  bolt  for  freedom, 
and  that  only  two  had  been  caught.  Though  the  whole 
camp  turned  out  to  scour  the  country,  the  other  eight 
escaped  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  were  no  more 
seen. 

Poor  creatures,  without  horses,  arms,  or  provisions, 
their  chances  of  reaching  any  of  the  settlements  were 
remote  indeed,  and  probably  they  would  die  of  hunger 
and  thirst.  Sorry  as  I  was  for  their  evil  plight,  I  couldn't 
help  feeling  relieved  by  their  escape,  and  wishing  the 
other  two  had  gone  also  ;  for  I  was  always  uneasy  lest 
some  of  the  bloodthirsty  villains  in  the  command  should 
take  them  and  hang  them  out  of  hand. 

But  soon  prisoners,  Indians,  and  all  other  minor 
troubles  were  forgotten  in  the  dreadful  sufferings  we 
now  had  to  endure  for  want  of  water,  as  will  be  set  down 
in  the  next  chapter. 


GIANT    CACTI    ON   THE    RIO    GRANDE    BORDER 


P.  353 


CHAPTER    XII 

WATER  !    OR   WE    DIE  ! 

THE  next  three  days'  march  of  this  ill-starred  expedition 
are  very  memorable  to  me,  for  during  them  not  a  drop  of 
water  could  we  find,  and  we  all  came  near  dying  of  thirst. 
It  has  often  been  my  fate  to  endure  the  pangs  of  hunger, 
but  I  venture  to  say  they  are  not  to  be  compared  to  those 
of  thirst.  Hunger  can  be  appeased  in  various  ways, 
but  for  thirst  there  is  only  one  remedy,  and  if  that  can 
not  be  found,  it  grows  hour  by  hour  more  maddening 
and  unendurable. 

In  that  arid  mountain  region  we  were  frozen  by  night 
and  parched  by  the  sun's  rays  shining  down  on  us  from 
a  pitiless,  cloudless  sky  by  day.  The  rocks  glowed 
with  the  fervent  heat ;  the  very  ground  seemed  baked 
under  our  feet,  and  for  miles  and  miles  we  tramped, 
when  our  horses  gave  out,  over  a  desolate,  treeless  country 
where  only  cacti  in  endless  variety,  each  one  more 
prickly  than  its  neighbour,  flourished  exceedingly.  I 
have  no  doubt  the  Comanches  chose  this  route  for  the 
express  purpose  of  stopping  us  by  thirst,  and  the  artful 
rascals  nearly  succeeded  in  killing  us  whilst  they  them 
selves  contrived  to  subsist  on  the  little  water  they  found 
in  small  rock-basins  known  to  them,  which  they  took 
care  to  empty  before  our  arrival. 

If  we  human  beings  suffered  tortures  from  thirst, 
our  unfortunate  horses  and  cattle  were  in  even  worse 
plight,  for  there  was  hardly  a  bite  of  grass  for  them,  and 
all  were  lamed  by  the  cruel  thorns.  As  for  the  miser- 

353  23 


354  WATER!   OR    WE    DIE! 

able  beeves,  their  feet  were  so  worn  by  the  rocky  ground 
that  the  trail  could  easily  be  followed  by  the  blood  they 
left  behind  them,  and  it  was  only  with  the  greatest  diffi 
culty  they  could  be  urged  forward.  Indeed  many  of  them 
died  by  the  way,  and  were  left  as  a  prey  to  the  buzzards 
and  coyotes  that  attended  us  in  the  well-grounded  as 
surance  that  a  feast  would  soon  be  forthcoming. 

The  first  day  after  the  escape  of  the  prisoners  we 
found,  about  midday,  a  little  off  the  trail,  a  scanty  supply 
of  water  in  a  rock-basin  enough  to  give  us  men  a  short 
drink  all  round,  but  leaving  no  surplus  for  the  animals, 
and  at  night  we  camped  without  water. 

All  next  day  we  followed  the  trail,  which,  as  far  as 
we  could  make  out,  ran  parallel  to  the  Rio  Grande,  at 
a  distance  of  probably  forty  miles,  over  the  same  barren, 
desolate  country.  Already  some  of  the  horses  and 
beeves  had  to  be  killed,  being  unable  to  travel  farther, 
but  the  pack-mules  still  held  out  fairly  well. 

Westfall  and  the  other  guides  advised  that  we  should 
strike  at  once  for  the  Rio  Grande,  as,  in  their  opinion, 
we  shouldn't  find  water  otherwise  for  three  or  four  days. 
But  the  Major  was  in  one  of  his  obstinate  fits,  and  insisted 
we  should  follow  the  trail  as  long  as  possible,  and  when 
it  was  no  longer  possible,  then  make  for  the  Rio  Grande. 
Knowing  nothing  about  Indians  and  their  artful  dodges, 
he  thought  they  must  be  making  for  some  creek  or  stream 
unknown  to  the  guides.  There  was  nothing  for  it  there 
fore  but  to  obey. 

Next  day  again  no  water,  for  man  or  beast ;  and  our 
tongues  clave  to  the  roofs  of  our  mouths,  for  it  was  now 
fifty-four  hours  since  we  last  drank.  The  men  were 
growing  mutinous,  and  declared  they  would  no  longer 
follow  the  trail. 

That  night  the  Major  wanted  to  hang  the  two  remaining 
prisoners,  for  the  men  wouldn't  trouble  to  guard  them, 
and  he  feared,  they  would  escape.  "  A  good  thing  too," 
I  answered,  "  if  they  do,  poor  devils,  but  you  shan't  hang 


IN   THE    BLUE    DISTANCE  355 

them  whilst  I'm  alive."     And  with  that  he  had  to  be 
content. 

When  the  third  cloudless  sun  rose  on  our  misery,  the 
men  could  no  more  be  controlled,  for  we,  and  they, 
knew  that  if  we  didn't  find  water  soon  we  should  die, 
and  wo  struck  for  the  Rio  Grande.  Far  away  (oh, 
how  far  it  seemed  ! )  in  the  dim  distance  rose  a  chain  of 
lofty  mountains  which  our  guides  said  were  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  For  them  we  steered  our  course,  and 
tramped  on  mile  after  mile,  leading  our  horses  for  the 
most  part ;  and  still  the  mountains  wore  that  tint  of 
blue  that  only  far  distance  gives.  Should  we  ever  reach 
the  precious  life-giving  water  that  flowed  at  the  foot  of 
their  slopes  ?  We  were  a  hopelessly  disorganised  rabble 
now,  and  those  who  still  had  horses  that  could  be  ridden 
pressed  on  as  fast  as  they  could  go,  the  Major  amongst 
them. 

I  was  in  charge  of  the  rear  of  this  rabble,  and  did  all 
I  could  to  bring  along  the  pack  animals,  and  the  beeves 
that  still  could  travel,  for  without  them  we  should  starve 
even  if  we  lived  to  reach  the  river.  But  when  darkness 
fell  it  was  impossible  to  keep  them  together,  for  men 
and  horses  and  cattle  were  mad  for  water. 

About  midnight,  I  think  it  was,  I  came  up  to  a  camp 
fire,  round  which  some  of  those  who  had  pressed  on 
ahead  were  lying  utterly  done  up.  No  man  greeted  his 
fellow,  no  word  was  spoken ;  we  just  threw  ourselves 
on  the  ground  and  lay  there  in  silence  and  despair.  To 
sleep  was  impossible  ;  the  pangs  of  thirst  prevented  that. 
It  was  two  days  since  I  had  eaten  anything,  but  hunger 
didn't  trouble  me — water,  water  was  my  only  thought. 

A  little  before  daybreak  next  morning  we  staggered 
to  our  feet  and  set  out  once  more  on  our  weary  quest 
of  the  river.  The  beeves,  horses,  and  pack  animals 
that  could  travel  had  disappeared.  They  had  gone 
straight  to  the  river,  and  Westfall  and  I,  and  a  few 
more,  kept  together  and  followed  their  trail  as  best 


356  WATER  !   OR    WE    DIE  ! 

we  could.  In  silence,  and  something  like  despair,  we 
tramped  on,  for,  if  we  didn't  find  water  in  the  next  few 
hours,  death  stared  us  in  the  face. 

Now  the  stars  began  to  pale,  and  with  the  first  glimmer 
of  dawn  we  saw  the  dim  outline  of  the  mountains  we 
had  striven  so  long  to  reach.  Then  with  the  full  light 
of  day  we  could  see  the  ravines  that  scored  their  sides, 
and  the  forest  growth  on  their  slopes,  and  hope  revived, 
for  the  river  couldn't  be  so  very  far  off  now.  "  How 
far,  Westfall  ?  "  I  whispered.  "  Fifteen  miles,  I  reckon," 
he  answered  in  the  same  tone,  and  we  pressed  on  with 
out  another  word. 

How  long  it  took  us  I  don't  know,  but  the  sun  was 
high  in  the  heavens,  I  remember,  when  we  reached  the 
river — only  to  find  we  couldn't  get  at  the  water,  for  it 
ran  between  precipices  more  than  a  hundred  feet  high, 
which  were  quite  unclimbable.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  it  was  the  same,  up  and  down  stream.  It  was 
heartbreaking  to  see  the  beautiful  clear-running  water, 
so  near  and  yet  so  far  away  ! 

The  cat  tie- trail  we  had  followed  turned  up-stream, 
and  we  took  that  direction  too,  hoping  that  the  instinct 
of  the  animals  had  guided  them  aright.  For  quite 
two  miles  we  followed  where  they  had  gone,  and  then 
struck  an  old,  well-worn  Indian  trail  evidently  leading 
to  a  crossing,  and  in  another  mile  were  at  the  water. 
No  drink  I  ever  tasted  in  all  my  life  was  like  that  one  ! 

Fortunately  the  stream  was  shallow,  running  over  a 
hard  gravelly  bed  ;  for  if  it  had  been  deep  and  muddy 
many  of  the  stock  would  have  been  drowned.  All 
our  missing  animals  had  got  to  the  water  ahead  of  us 
and  many  of  them  were  standing  knee-deep  in  the  river, 
whilst  others  were  already  cropping  the  grass  on  its 
banks.  When  all  had  slaked  their  thirst,  we  crossed 
the  river  and  climbed  by  the  Indian  trail  to  a  plateau 
where  was  some  grass  for  the  stock,  but  not  an  atom 
of  shade  to  shelter  under.  Then,  thirst  being  appeased, 


A   LUCKY    SHOT  357 

hunger  became  insistent,   and  we  cooked  and  ate  the 
first  food  we  had  tasted  for  many  a  long  hour. 

The  primary  wants  of  man  and  beast  being  satisfied, 
and  all  being  filled  with  meat  and  drink,  each  after 
his  own  kind,  everything  began  to  wear  a  brighter 
aspect.  We,  who  yesterday  were  a  broken,  hopeless 
rabble  of  despairing  men,  took  a  fairly  rosy  view  of  things 
in  general,  and  if  we  had  only  had  some  tobacco,  would 
have  been  quite  cheerful,  I  believe  ! 

After  a  sleep  under  the  shade  of  my  blanket,  I  took 
my  rifle,  and  strolled  down  the  stream  with  a  couple 
of  the  boys  who  were  going  fishing.  Not  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  camp  they  halted  to  try  a  deep  pool, 
and  I  sat  on  the  rocks  to  watch  them.  Behind  me  was 
a  steep  escarpment  of  loose  stones,  boulder  strewn,  on 
the  Mexican  side.  The  stones  began  to  rattle  down, 
and  I  turned  to  see  a  magnificent  black-tailed  buck 
making  off  along  the  slope.  He  was  broadside  on, 
and  the  place  was  so  steep  that  even  he  couldn't  go 
very  fast.  But  there  was  no  time  to  admire  his  propor 
tions,  for  already  he  was  about  fifty  yards  off  ;  so  I  got 
on  to  him  as  soon  as  I  could.  The  bullet  hit  him  just 
behind  the  shoulder,  and  with  one  tremendous 
bound  he  fell  dead,  and  rolled  down  to  within  a  few 
yards  of  where  I  sat.  He  was  a  noble-looking  fellow, 
with  a  fine  head,  and,  what  was  more  important  from 
our  then  point  of  view,  in  rare  good  order.  Whilst 
one  of  the  boys  went  back  for  a  pack-mule  the  other 
one  and  I  skinned  the  buck,  and  that  night  we  feasted 
right  royally,  for  there  was  venison  and  fish  enough 
for  the  whole  of  my  own  command. 

We  rested  in  this  camp  a  couple  of  days,  and  had 
ample  leisure  to  admire  the  wild  and  desolate  scenery 
around  us.  The  river,  about  a  hundred  yards  in  width, 
and  very  deep,  except  at  its  rare  fords,  ran  clear 
and  bright  over  its  rocky  bed,  through  a  channel  that 
seemed  as  though  hewn  out  of  the  solid  grey  rock  to 


358  WATER!   OR    WE    DIE! 

a  depth  of  one  hundred  feet  and  more.  The  country 
all  around  rose  in  mountain  after  mountain,  like  the 
waves  of  some  vast  sea,  only  broken  at  intervals  by 
lofty  conical  peaks,  and  in  the  far  distance  by  the  still 
loftier  summits  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  which  themselves 
seemed  to  melt  at  last  into  the  clear  blue  of  that 
wondrous  sky. 

No  grateful  shade- trees  were  here,  or  luxuriant  grasses, 
but  rocks  that  pulsated  with  heat  under  the  pitiless 
glare  of  the  cloudless  sun.  But  wherever  there  was  a 
scrap  of  earth  that  could  give  a  foothold  there  was  a 
cactus  growing  ;  some  many  feet  high,  like  stiff  green 
poles,  others  only  a  few  inches  from  the  ground  :  a 
world  of  thorns  and  heat  and  drought. 

Desolate  and  forbidding  as  this  region  was,  we  all 
enjoyed  our  brief  rest  immensely.  Whilst  some  of 
the  boys  went  fishing  or  hunting,  others  were  busy 
slaughtering  and  drying  beef,  and  making  the  hides 
into  mocassins ;  only  the  inveterate  gamblers  and 
loafers  indulged  their  ruling  passion,  and  lay  round 
under  the  shade  of  a  blanket  playing  "  monte  "  with 
greasy  packs  of  cards. 

During  the  halt  the  Major  sent  a  scouting  party  up 
the  river,  but  they  returned,  after  a  twenty-mile  ride, 
saying  they  could  find  no  watering-place  in  all  that 
distance,  nor  any  sign  of  Indians.  Our  guides  and 
the  old  Mexican  Captain  said  we  were  about  two  days' 
march  from  San  Carlos,  near  which  was  a  favourite 
camping-ground  of  the  Muscalaros  Indians ;  and,  as  the 
horses  had  now  picked  up  a  bit,  the  Major  concluded 
to  try  to  catch  some  of  that  tribe.  It  was  quite  hopeless 
to  hunt  Comanches  in  our  then  condition  ;  indeed  they 
were  more  likely  to  hunt  us,  if  they  were  aware  of  our 
plight  and  were  in  any  force.  So  rather  than  do  nothing 
at  all,  after  all  our  toils  and  sufferings,  we  would  have  a 
try  for  the  others,  especially  as  their  location  was  not 
very  far  out  of  our  direct  road  back  to  the  settlements. 


THE    MUSCALAROS'    CAMP    DESERTED      359 

Sending  a  scouting  party  ahead,  we  set  off  once  more, 
keeping  always  in  reach  of  the  river.  But  ill-luck  still 
attended  us,  for  the  scouts  found  the  Muscalaros*  camp 
had  been  moved  long  since,  and  a  small  band  they  came 
across  cleared  out  at  once ;  and  they  were  in  no  condition 
to  pursue  them. 

The  few  cattle  we  had  left  were  unable  to  travel  farther, 
so  we  halted  long  enough  to  kill,  and  cut  up  for  drying, 
all  that  were  fit  to  eat.  By  this  time  nearly  the  whole 
command  was  on  foot,  the  horses  having  given  out ; 
provisions  were  getting  scarce,  and  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  return  whence  we  came.  To  dream  of 
hunting  Indians  of  any  sort  was  sheer  folly  ;  the  only 
question  was  how  best  and  quickest  to  get  back.  I 
didn't  like  the  route  the  Major  proposed  to  follow,  nor 
had  I  much  faith  in  his  guides,  so  I  asked  leave  to  take 
my  own  road  with  my  command,  and  to  report  to  him 
from  my  own  head-quarter  camp  on  the  Leona.  To 
this  he  agreed,  so  we  parted  the  following  morning,  I 
taking  with  me  the  two  remaining  prisoners,  who,  not 
too  well  guarded,  escaped  near  the  Rio  Grande,  and,  I 
hope,  got  safely  over  into  Mexico. 

Neither  Westfall  nor  myself,  nor  any  of  the  boys, 
had  ever  been  in  that  section  of  country  before,  and 
we  had  no  compass  to  guide  us.  Moreover,  to  add 
to  our  difficulties,  the  weather  set  in  misty,  so  that  we 
couldn't  see  the  sun  for  several  days.  On  parting  from 
the  main  body  we  boldly  left  the  river  and  struck  across 
the  country  in  a  line  which  Westfall  was  sure  would 
bring  us  out  all  right,  though  we  might  perhaps  suffer 
somewhat  from  want  of  water.  We  were  leaving  broken- 
down  animals  every  day,  and  almost  all  of  us  were  on 
foot  :  our  meal  and  flour  had  quite  given  out,  though 
we  had  still  a  little  dried  beef  left,  and  in  this  condition 
it  was  essential  to  take  the  shortest  road.  It  certainly 
was  a  risky  thing  to  do,  but  I  had  unbounded  confidence 
in  my  guide,  which  in  the  end  was  quite  justified,  for 


360  WATER!    OR    WE    DIE! 

he  eventually  did  bring  us  out  all  right,  and  we  beat 
the  Major  and  the  rest  of  the  command  by  three  days. 

I  don't  propose  to  tell  what  befell  us  day  by  day  on 
this  march,  for  it  would  only  be  wearisome  repetition 
of  hardships  endured,  more  or  less  cheerfully,  by  us  all. 
Once  only  had  I  any  real  trouble  with  the  boys,  and 
that  was  on  the  third  day  we  had  passed  without  seeing 
the  sun.  They  grew  very  uneasy,  and  thought  we 
must  be  lost  in  that  awful  sea  of  rocky  hills  ;  for,  said 
they,  it  was  impossible  for  any  man  to  find  his  way 
without  even  the  sun  to  guide  him.  I  could  see  West- 
fall  was  getting  bothered  by  their  grumbling,  and  that 
it  had  to  be  stopped  at  once.  So  I  fell  them  in,  and 
told  them  he  and  I  had  chosen  the  line  we  were  taking  ; 
that  we  knew  it  was  the  right  one,  and  they  had  to 
follow  it,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not.  All  the  same 
I  confess  I  was  very  uneasy,  and  it  was  an  immense 
relief  when  next  morning  the  sun  shone  out,  and  we 
saw  we  were  not  far  out  of  our  right^course. 

We  were  fortunate  in  finding  a  good  water-hole  the 
second  day  ;  then  we  had  a  couple  of  dry  marches  ; 
and  so  it  went  on,  but  we  were  never  reduced  to  the 
dire  straits  we  had  been  in  before  we  reached  the  Rio 
Grande.  One  day  we  were  lucky  enough  to  run  across 
a  good  bunch  of  javalines,  or  peccary,  near  a  water-hole 
on  a  dried-up  creek,  and  killed  four  of  them  ;  a  welcome 
addition  to  our  scanty  larder. 

The  morning  after  this  we  saw  a  column  of  smoke 
rising  from  a  hollow  a  mile  or  two  ahead.  As  this  could 
only  come  from  an  Indian  camp,  we  looked  to  our  arms, 
and  advanced  in  readiness  for  an  attack,  sending  scouts 
before.  It  was  an  Indian  camp  sure  enough,  and  the 
fresh  sign  showed  a  party  of  about  twenty,  with  a  big 
bunch  of  horses,  had  just  left  it.  It  was  hopeless  to 
follow  them,  for  we  could  never  come  up  with  them, 
unless  they  had  kindly  waited  for  us,  so  I  reluctantly 
kept  on  my  way  down  country. 


TRACES    OF    THE    ESCAPED    PRISONERS     361 

Now  Westfall  spotted  two  mocassin-tracks  on  an 
old  trail,  leading  in  our  right  direction  ;  so  we  followed 
them,  and  in  a  few  miles  they  brought  us  out  on  the 
lower  Rio  Grande.  Thank  goodness  we  had  at  last 
got  out  of  the  treeless  waste  we  had  wandered  in  so 
long,  for  all  along  the  river  there  was  fine  timber,  and 
we  marched  on  under  its  delightful  shade  in  much  comfort. 
The  hackberries,  growing  on  low  bushy  trees  along 
the  river-bottom  in  great  abundance,  were  just  ripe, 
and  we  devoured  them  wholesale.  The  fruit,  rather 
larger  than  currants  and  very  sweet  to  the  taste,  is  a 
great  favourite  with  the  wild  turkeys,  which  grow  exceed 
ing  fat  on  this  dainty  diet. 

Hard  by  where  we  first  struck  the  river  was  another 
of  the  curious  Indian  painted  caves,  and  in  it  we  found 
sign  of  our  escaped  prisoners.  So  after  all  the  poor 
wretches  hadn't  perished  in  the  stony  wilderness,  and 
would  probably  now  get  safely  down  to  some  of  the 
Mexican  pueblos  on  the  river. 

Turning  a  projecting  angle  of  rock,  a  little  below  the 
cave,  Westfall  and  I  came  suddenly  on  a  couple  of  Indians, 
cooking  at  a  small  fire.  They  saw  us  before  we  did 
them,  and  vanished  like  snakes  into  the  thick  brush 
close  by,  in  which  it  was  hopeless  to  pursue  them.  They 
left  behind  them  a  fine  "  blue-cat  "  fish,  nicely  broiled 
on  the  embers,  and  the  smell  thereof  was  so  appetising 
that  we  were  fain  to  taste  their  cookery ;  and,  finding  it 
most  excellent,  left  nothing  but  the  bones  for  the  right 
ful  owners. 

We  followed  the  river  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pecos, 
and  now  reached  a  section  well  known  to  our  guide, 
and  indeed  to  many  of  the  boys,  so  that  all  anxiety  as 
to  our  route  was  quite  at  an  end.  Following  a  plain 
Indian  trail  leading  down  to  the  Mexican  settlements, 
we  crossed  the  Rio  Grande,  there  very  deep  and  swift, 
about  twenty-six  miles  from  the  San  Felipe  springs, 
and  camped  by  them  at  night. 


362  WATER!     OR  WE   DIE! 

Our  dried  beef  being  finished,  the  boys  were  ravenous  ; 
so  next  morning,  before  daybreak,  I  sent  on  a  party 
to  hunt  up  a  beef  at  Sycamore  Creek,  our  next  halting- 
place,  and  have  it  cut  up  and  ready  for  our  arrival. 
When  we  got  to  camp,  we  found  a  cow  had  been  not  only 
killed  and  cut  up,  but  was  nearly  cooked  ready  for  us. 
I  don't  think  the  boys  waited  for  it  to  be  overdone, 
for  they  set  to  like  so  many  wolves,  and  presently 
cleared  up  every  scrap  of  meat.  To  watch  them  devour 
that  cow  was  something  like  the  far-famed  sight  of 
feeding  the  lions  at  the  Zoo. 

From  this  camping-place  we  marched  thirty-five 
miles  to  Elm  Creek,  all  on  foot ;  for  now,  my  good  horse 
that  had  carried  me  with  occasional  rests  all  the  journey, 
gave  out  and  had  to  be  led.  That  day's  march  took 
us  through  Fort  Clark,  where  we  got  a  small  supply  of 
meal  and  coffee  and,  more  welcome  than  either,  a  little 
tobacco.  Thence  two  long  marches  brought  us  back 
to  our  camp  on  the  Leona,  which  we  had  left  ten  weeks 
before  on  this  wild-goose  chase  ;  and  I  think  we  were 
lucky  not  to  have  left  our  bones  in  that  terrible  thirst- 
land, 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

WHEN  I  got  back  to  camp,  after  the  pleasure  trip  with 
Major  Hatch's  command,  I  found  my  stores  of 
ammunition,  clothing,  medicines,  etc.,  had  run  so  low 
that  I  was  obliged  to  go  into  San  Antonio  for  fresh 
supplies.  There  I  found  every  one  much  excited  about 
the  threatened  invasion  of  the  State  by  the  Federal 
General  Banks,  commonly  known  amongst  us  of  the 
Confederate  Service  as  "  Commissary  Banks,"  from  his 
supposed  disinclination  to  move  without  an  abundance 
of  creature  comforts,  more  especially  for  his  own  use. 
He  had  collected  a  considerable  force  on  the  Red  River 
between  Arkansas  and  Texas,  and  boasted  he  would 
sweep  the  State  of  rebels. 

The  gallant  Magruder  and  his  Texan  boys,  than 
whom  there  were  no  better  fighters  in  the  South,  when 
properly  led,  met  him  just  within  our  boundary  and, 
with  a  far  inferior  force,  inflicted  on  him  a  signal  defeat. 
It  was  a  gallant  fight,  and  splendidly  won,  but  I  was 
not  present  at  it,  though  my  boys  and  I  volunteered 
to  a  man  to  go  with  Magruder,  whom  we  all  recognised 
as  a  leader  of  men ;  but  it  wasn't  to  be,  for  the 
authorities  had  other  uses  for  us. 

An  expedition  was  being  organised  to  attack  a  body 
of  three  or  four  hundred  Californians  who  had  established 
themselves  at  Fort  Lancaster,  in  the  south-western  part 
of  the  State,  where  they  were  assuming  a  threatening 
attitude,  and  attracting  to  themselves  many  deserters 
from  our  service.  Indeed,  desertion  was  at  that  time 

363 


364  THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

rife  in  Texas,  and  had  increased  to  such  an  alarming 
extent  that,  especially  in  the  west  of  the  State,  the  men 
were  going  off  in  bands  of  from  a  dozen  up  to  two  hun 
dred  at  a  time.  Many  of  these  joined  the  Federal 
forces,  whilst  the  most  part  scattered  over  the  Mexican 
frontier  and  lived  by  indiscriminate  plunder. 

The  command  of  the  Fort  Lancaster  expedition  was 
given  to  Major  Hunter,  an  old  Texan  frontiersman, 
and  an  able  commander,  who  since  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  had,  with  his  company,  been  stationed  on  the 
north-western  frontier. 

It  was  whilst  we  were  waiting  in  San  Antonio  to  know 
if  we  might  join  Magruder  that  the  Adjutant-General  of 
the  State  ordered  me  to  report,  with  all  my  command, 
to  Major  Hunter,  and  to  be  ready  to  start  for  Fort 
Lancaster  in  a  few  days.  It  was  a  great  disappoint 
ment  at  the  time,  but  Hunter  was,  as  I  afterwards 
found,  a  first-rate  man,  who  thoroughly  understood  his 
business,  and  I  had  no  cause  to  regret  serving  under 
him. 

At  this  time  a  Colonel  Franks,  a  well-known  and  rather 
notorious  character  in  Texas,  was  organising  a  force 
to  recapture  Brownsville,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  which, 
after  General  Wasp's  shameful  skedaddle,  had  been  oc 
cupied  by  the  Yankees.  Franks  and  I  were  well  known 
to  each  other,  and  for  that  very  reason,  I  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  find  that  he  had  begged  the  authorities 
to  send  my  command  with  him.  Though  I  had  no 
very  high  opinion  of  the  man,  I  was  willing  to  join 
him,  for  we  all  thought  the  Federals  would  make  a 
fight  of  it  at  Brownsville ;  in  which  however  we  were 
mistaken. 

It  was  flattering  to  our  vanity  to  be  in  such  request, 
but,  as  it  turned  out,  it  was  just  as  well  the  Adjutant- 
General  stuck  to  his  original  order,  for  Franks'  force 
did  nothing,  nor  was  capable  of  doing  anything,  being 
composed  mainly  of  deserters  and  loafers  of  all  sorts. 


COLONEL   FRANKS   THE    GAMBLER    365 

These  gentry  flocked  to  the  gallant  Colonel's  standard 
under  the  well-founded  belief  that  there  would  be  but 
little  discipline,  and  no  danger.  In  fact  they  expected 
a  "  good  time,"  with  plenty  of  gambling  and  a  sufficiency 
of  plunder.  In  the  result  the  Colonel  and  his  loafers 
lay  round  in  camp,  doing  nothing,  for  several  months 
until  the  Yankees  evacuated  Brownsville,  when  they 
boldly  marched  in  and  occupied  it. 

Franks  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  well-known  character  in 
Texas,  and  a  type  of  a  class  of  men  common  enough 
in  the  State  in  those  days.  He  enjoyed  the  reputation 
of  a  "  fighting  man,"  and  was  I  think  the  most  inveterate 
gambler  and  the  hardest  swearer  I  ever  met,  even  out 
West ;  indeed  his  power  of  "  language,"  especially 
when  the  luck  went  against  him,  was  almost  grotesque 
in  its  resourcefulness.  With  a  Colonel's  commission  in 
his  pocket,  and  supposed  to  be  earnestly  engaged  in 
raising  a  regiment  for  State  service,  he  was  generally 
to  be  found  in  one  of  the  most  notorious  gambling  dens 
in  San  Antonio  "dealing  "  monte  with  all  the  riff-raff 
of  the  place,  whilst  youngsters  of  his  own  regiment  stood 
round  "  bucking  "  at  him,  i.e.  backing  his  luck. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  am  bound  to  say  that 
"  Old  Rip,"  as  he  delighted  to  be  called,  was  fairly 
popular  with  most  of  the  people,  being  hail-fellow- 
well-met  with  everybody,  free  with  his  money,  and 
equally  free  with  his  six-shooter.  As  to  his  military 
experience,  he  had  for  a  short  time,  years  before,  com 
manded  a  ranging  company  on  the  frontier,  and  had 
also  commanded  the  volunteers  who  fought  the  Mexican 
bandit  and  guerilla  leader  Cortinas,  when  he  raided  into 
Texas  in  1859. 

Early  in  April  1864,  at  the^veryjime  I  received  the 
order  to  report  to  Major  Hunter,  a  law  was  passed 
changing  the  conditions  of  service  of  my  frontier  com 
pany,  and  making  the  men  liable  to  serve  wherever 
they  might  be  required,  either  in  or  out  of  the  State. 


366  THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

That  being  so,  I  asked,  and  obtained,  permission  to 
resign  my  commission  and  hold  a  fresh  election,  which 
I  thought  was  only  fair  to  the  boys,  though  if  I  had 
not  been  re-elected  I  should  have  had  to  serve  in  the 
ranks. 

The  boys  were  much  disgusted  at  the  arbitrary  changes 
in  their  service  conditions,  but  were  somewhat  cheered 
when  they  knew  they  were  to  go  to  Fort  Lancaster  with 
Hunter,  who  was  well  known  to  most  of  them,  though 
they  would  have  preferred  going  with  Magruder.  The 
day  after  my  return  I  held  the  election  for  officers  under 
the  new  conditions.  They  were  perfectly  free  to  choose 
whomsoever  they  liked,  and  somewhat  to  my  surprise, 
and  much  to  my  gratification,  they  re-elected  me  almost 
unanimously. 

My  boys  had  by  this  time  quite  got  over  the  effects 
of  the  last  abortive  expedition,  and,  having  provided 
themselves  with  fresh  horses,  were  fit  to  go  anywhere 
and  do  anything  in  the  way  of  fighting  they  might  be 
asked  to.  Two  days  were  spent  in  preparing  rations, 
looking  thoroughly  to  saddlery  and  equipment,  and 
then  we  rode  out,  seventy-five  strong,  to  meet  Major 
Hunter  at  Dhanis,  on  the  Eagle  Pass  road,  distant  about 
thirty  miles  from  camp.  I  reported  myself  that  evening 
in  his  camp,  where  he  had  already  a  command  of  about 
five  hundred  Rangers,  all  picked  frontiersmen,  well 
armed  and  mounted.  He  only  waited  our  arrival  to 
start ;  so  next  morning  at  daybreak  we  broke  camp, 
and  set  off  on  our  three-hundred-mile  ride  to  the  fort. 

Hunter,  as  we  rode  along,  told  me  his  information 
was  that  the  Calif ornians,  who  were  supposed  to  number 
about  five  hundred,  were  encamped  in  the  difficult 
brushy  country  between  the  fort  and  the  Rio  Grande. 
There  they  had  established  themselves  in  a  strong  posi 
tion,  and  for  some  time  had  been  busy  plundering  the 
ranches  and  small  settlements  on  either  side  of  the 
river  with  fine  impartiality.  Having  been  left  un- 


THE    MAJOR    RECONNOITRES  367 

molested  for  some  time,  they  probably  had  grown  care 
less,  and  kept  but  an  indifferent  watch,  especially  at 
night.  His  plan  then  was  to  push  on  steadily  till  within 
a  day's  march  of  their  position  and,  having  carefully 
reconnoitred  it,  make  a  night  attack. 

We  covered  about  thirty  miles  a  day  and  arrived 
quite  fresh  and  fit  on  the  evening  of  the  ninth  day  at 
our  last  camping-place,  on  a  clear  running  creek,  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  the  enemy's  stronghold.  It 
was  a  bright  night,  and  the  full  moon  riding  high  in 
the  cloudless  sky  made  it  almost  as  light  as  day.  Leav 
ing  me  in  command  of  the  camp  as  next  senior  officer 
to  himself,  Hunter  set  off  with  three  of  his  best  scouts, 
after  a  couple  of  hours'  rest,  to  examine  the  position. 
If  he  did  not  return  by  noon  next  day,  I  was  to  conclude 
he  had  been  taken  or  killed,  and  was  to  assume  the 
command  and  attack  the  enemy  in  the  way  I  thought 
best. 

That  night  passed  slowly  enough,  at  least  with  me, 
for  I  had  a  sort  of  foreboding  that  Hunter,  who  didn't 
know  what  fear  meant,  would  do  something  rash  and 
get  himself  into  trouble.  The  morning  wore  on  till 
towards  noon,  and  I  was  just  giving  orders  for  the  com 
mand  to  fall  in  to  march  to  Hunter's  rescue,  feeling  sure 
the  Calif ornians  had  got  him,  when  he  and  his  scouts 
came  riding  down  the  slope  across  the  creek.  He  laughed 
long  and  loudly  at  my  anxiety  about  him.  "  Give  us 
a  drink,  my  boy,  and  something  to  eat,  for  I'm  starving, 
and  then  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it." 

The  tale  was  soon  told.  Following  the  beaten  trail 
past  the  fort,  which  seemed  deserted  and  in  ruins,  he  had 
arrived  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  Calif  ornians' 
camp,  about  two  hours  before  daybreak,  without  en 
countering  any  pickets.  There  he  left  the  horses  in 
charge  of  one  of  the  men  and,  with  the  other  two,  crept 
cautiously  forward.  The  moon  by  this  time  was  falling 
low  hi  the  west,  but  still  gave  all  the  light  he  wanted. 


368  THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

A  plain  enough  trail  led  to  the  foot  of  a  wooded  bluff 
on  which  the  camp  was  placed,  and  there  he  nearly 
blundered  on  a  picket  of  three  men ;  but  luckily  they 
were  fast  asleep,  stretched  comfortably  on  their  blankets. 

Passing  away  to  the  right,  he  and  his  scouts  crawled 
through  the  brush  that  covered  the  steep  slope,  till 
they  reached  a  cleared  space,  studded  thickly  with 
tents.  Not  a  soul  stirred,  and  not  a  guard  was  to  be 
seen.  Half  a  dozen  or  so  horses  were  picketed  near 
the  tents.  The  rest  must  be  under  guard  somewhere 
else ;  but  where  ?  Retreating  down  the  slope  as  they 
came,  they  found  the  far  side  of  the  bluff  almost  pre 
cipitous,  and  strewn  with  loose  stones. 

It  was  too  risky  to  pass  these,  so  they  retraced  their 
steps  and,  giving  the  sleeping  picket  a  wide  berth,  passed 
round  to  the  left  of  the  position.  There,  coming  to  the 
edge  of  a  wide  open  space,  they  saw  quite  a  crowd  of 
horses  picketed  under  guard,  for  they  could  hear  the 
men  laughing  and  talking  and  see  some  of  them,  under 
a  big  live-oak,  dealing  monte  by  the  light  of  a  flaring 
torch.  Having  found  this  side  of  the  bluff,  like  the 
right,  a  steep  brushy  slope,  Hunter  had  seen  enough, 
and  made  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  our  camp.  He 
was  in  high  glee,  for  now  he  was  sure  of  success. 

'  The  trumps  are  all  in  our  own  hands,  and  the  game's 
as  good  as  finished,  if  only  we  work  it  cleverly,  and 
some  darned  blunderer  doesn't  scare  them.  Now  for 
a  good  sleep,  my  boy  ;  have  the  command  ready  to 
march  an  hour  after  sundown,  and  see  to  all  the  rifles 
and  six-shooters  in  the  meantime." 

By  the  hour  appointed  supper  was  over,  the  men,  all 
eager  for  the  fray,  were  mounted,  and  we  set  off  in  the 
highest  of  spirits.  I  well  remember  now  what  a  glorious 
night  it  was,  as  we  rode  over  the  prairie  by  the  light 
of  the  brilliant  moon,  with  the  cool  night  breeze  to  fan 
us  after  the  burning  heat  of  the  day.  But  I  don't  think 
many  gave  much  heed  to  the  beauties  of  nature,  for 


CAREFUL    DISPOSITIONS  369 

before  us  was  the  prospect  of  some  real  fighting  under 
a  leader  we  were  all  glad  to  follow. 

The  plan  of  attack  was  thoroughly  explained,  and 
all  the  men  carefully  detailed  for  the  various  parts  they 
had  to  play,  before  we  started,  so  that  there  should 
be  no  confusion,  so  fatal  and  so  difficult  to  avoid,  with 
any  troops,  in  a  night  attack.  The  command  was  to 
halt  half  a  mile  from  the  camp,  and  all  the  horses,  except 
150,  to  be  left  with  a  reserve  of  125  men  ;  for  Hunter, 
daring  as  he  was,  was  cautious  withal,  and  would  avoid 
risks  if  possible.  He  himself  would  lead  a  hundred 
picked  men  up  the  right  slope,  to  surprise  the  camp, 
whilst  250  dismounted  and  100  mounted  men  were 
to  take  up  position  on  the  left,  to  intercept  the  fugitives 
and  secure  their  horses. 

We  took  our  time  on  the  march,  jogging  along  quite 
easily,  for  we  had  seven  hours  to  do  the  distance  in 
and  prepare  for  the  attack.  It  was  just  after  three 
o'clock  when  we  reached  our  halting-place,  and  the 
moon  was  all  but  down.  In  a  very  few  minutes  the 
horses  were  linked,  and  the  reserve  fallen  in,  under 
command  of  the  second  senior  captain,  with  strict  orders 
not  to  move  except  by  order  from  the  Major  or  myself. 
Even  then  no  word  was  uttered  above  a  whisper,  and 
the  boys,  excited  as  they  were,  were  wonderfully  quiet 
as  yet ;  would  they  keep  so  till  the  curtain  rang  up  ? 

The  Major  and  his  hundred  passed  away  to  the  right, 
to  avoid  the  picket,  and  presently  disappeared  in  the 
darkness  and  dead  silence.  Immediately  he  had  done 
so,  I  led  off  my  350  to  the  left,  guided  by  the  scouts 
who  had  been  over  the  ground  the  night  before.  We 
marched  in  column,  four  abreast  to  keep  touch  and 
avoid  straggling  in  the  dark. 

Arrived  as  near  the  edge  of  the  clearing  as  we  dared 
venture,  I  gradually  formed  my  party  into  line  as  well 
as  I  could  ;  the  dismounted  men  on  the  right,  and  the 
mounted  on  the  left.  Then  we  waited.  Not  a  sound 

24 


370  THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

came  from  the  sleeping  camp  away  on  our  right ;  only 
to  our  front  we  could  hear  the  faint  stamping  of  horses' 
feet,  perhaps  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  away,  and  the 
voices  of  their  guards.  How  slowly  the  time  passed  ; 
would  Hunter  never  begin  ? 

Now,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night,  one  of  the  horses 
in  the  clearing  ahead  of  us  neighed,  long  and  loudly, 
probably  because  he  had  winded  us,  and  directly  one 
of  our  own  answered  him.  Some  one  shouted  from 
the  guard  :  '  There's  a  horse  loose,  whose  in  thunder 
is  it  ?  "  Men  came  running  towards  us  as  we  stood  in 
silent  ranks.  If  one  of  my  boys  fired  at  them,  as  they 
well  might  in  their  excitement,  all  our  well-laid  plans 
were  spoiled. 

I  dared  not  move,  but  held  my  breath  and  clenched 
my  teeth.  What  could  Hunter  be  doing  all  this  time  ? 
The  horse-seekers  were  pushing  through  the  brush, 
coming  straight  to  us  ;  in  another  moment  we  must  be 
discovered. 

No,  thank  goodness  !  our  luck  still  stuck  to  us  ;  for 
now,  away  on  the  hilltop,  I  heard  a  single  revolver- 
shot,  and  following  on  it  instantly,  a  volley  from  the 
hundred  rifles ;  then  yells,  and  screams  of  terror,  and 
desultory  firing.  For  a  brief  space  this  went  on,  and 
then  down  the  brushy  slope,  on  our  right  front,  came 
the  Californians,  helter-skelter,  a  mob  of  fleeing,  panic- 
stricken  men,  whose  one  thought  was  to  get  to  their 
horses  and  escape. 

Meanwhile,  the  moment  I  knew  Hunter  was  at  work, 
I  ordered  an  advance  of  the  dismounted  men  at  the 
double,  directing  the  horsemen,  the  moment  they  were 
clear  of  the  brush,  to  pass  away  to  the  left  and  get 
round  the  picketed  horses,  to  prevent  a  stampede. 
Coming  out  on  the  clearing  I  found,  as  far  as  I  could  see 
in  the  dim  light,  an  open  space  between  the  horses  and 
the  foot  of  the  slope,  which  the  fugitives  must  cross. 
Here  we  halted. 


A    VERY    SMART    LITTLE    AFFAIR         371 

As  soon  as,  judging  from  the  sound,  they  had  gathered 
pretty  thickly  there,  I  ordered  my  boys  to  fire  a  volley. 
What  was  the  effect  it  was  impossible  to  see,  but  the 
cries  of  terror  that  resounded  from  the  brush,  and  from 
the  clearing,  showed  that  the  double  surprise  had  en 
tirely  routed  the  enemy,  who  were  scattering  in  all 
directions.  Without  waiting  to  reload,  I  led  the  boys 
at  the  double  across  the  clearing,  but  only  the  dead 
and  wounded  remained ;  the  rest  had,  under  cover  of 
the  darkness,  disappeared  into  the  brush. 

Now  the  order  to  "  cease  fire  "  was  given,  for  fear 
we  might  shoot  our  own  people,  and  Hunter,  leaving  a 
detachment  to  hold  the  camp,  joined  us  with  the  rest 
of  his  men.  The  surprise  was  complete,  and  we  con 
gratulated  ourselves  and  our  men  on  the  smart  way 
it  had  been  carried  out.  Of  my  party  not  a  man  had 
been  touched,  the  enemy  having  been  too  demoralised, 
when  they  came  into  our  hands,  to  fire  a  single  shot. 

Hunter's  party  had  not  been  so  fortunate,  for  a  squad 
of  them,  leading  the  charge  through  the  camp,  had 
received  a  hot  fire  at  close  range  from  some  of  the  enemy 
who  made  a  brief  stand,  and  four  men  were  killed  and 
ten  wounded,  four  of  them  very  seriously.  Of  the 
Californians  we  found  in  all  some  thirty-five  dead  and 
twenty  severely  wounded,  those  able  to  move  having  got 
away  into  the  brush.  When  daylight  came  we  rounded 
up  the  captured  horses,  and  found  we  had  got  some 
250.  Very  few  had  been  taken  away  by  the  fugitives ; 
the  rest  had  broken  loose,  and  were  lost  in  the  brush. 

A  strong  scouting  party  was  sent  out  to  follow  the 
enemy,  but  soon  returned  reporting  that  they  had  crossed 
the  river  into  Mexico,  whither  we  did  not  pursue  them. 
There,  we  heard  afterwards,  they  met  with  a  hot  re 
ception  from  the  ranchers  and  people  of  the  settlements 
they  had  plundered  with  impunity  before  we  broke 
them  up,  so  that  many  were  killed,  and  the  rest  scattered 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 


372  THE    CALIFORNIAN    RAIDERS 

We  feasted  royally  on  the  ample  provisions  left  behind 
by  the  enemy,  and  then,  after  a  brief  rest,  having  burned 
the  tents  and  what  plunder  we  couldn't  carry  away, 
set  off  for  Fort  Clark,  with  the  wounded  borne  on  im 
provised  litters.  We  had  no  surgeon  with  us  nor  any 
ambulances,  and  so  were  obliged  to  seek  both  at  the 
post.  There  we  camped  for  some  days,  whilst  the 
post  surgeon  attended  to  the  wounded  of  both  sides. 
Four  of  our  own  poor  fellows  died  of  their  wounds,  but 
the  rest  being  soon  fit  to  travel,  we  borrowed  four  am 
bulances  and  brought  them  back  with  us  to  our  camp. 

Hunter,  having  pressing  business  to  attend  to,  left 
us  the  day  after  we  reached  Fort  Clark,  and  set  off  with 
a  small  escort  for  headquarters,  leaving  me  in  command. 
After  leaving  the  fort  we  kept  together  for  a  few  days, 
and  then  the  companies  dispersed  to  their  respective 
camps  under  their  own  commanders. 

The  captured  horses  and  other  plunder  were  sent  into 
San  Antonio,  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  command 
in  general.  So  ended  a  successful  expedition,  well 
organised,  and  well  led  by  its  able  commander,  to  whom 
all  the  credit  of  the  result  was  due. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE    JUMPING    "  BUCKS  " 

As  soon  as  we  got  back  from  the  Fort  Lancaster  expedition 
in  the  month  of  April  1864,  the  usual  exchange  of  de 
tachments  took  place  ;  those  who  had  been  on  leave 
returned  to  duty,  and  those  who  had  been  on  service 
went  home  to  attend  to  their  own  affairs.  I  therefore 
took  a  spell  of  leave  at  the  ranch,  handing  over  the 
command  to  the  senior  Lieutenant,  English  by  name. 
There  things  I  found  were  not  in  a  very  flourishing 
condition.  The  Indians  had  swept  off  several  of  my 
horses,  and  many  of  my  cattle  had  been  stolen  by  so- 
called  Government  agents,  Mexican  raiders,  and  other 
thieves. 

But  the  worst  news  I  got  was  the  disastrous  end  of  a 
cattle  speculation  I  had  gone  into  with  a  man  named 
Bacon,  a  cattle-buyer  in  San  Antonio.  At  that  time 
there  was  hardly  any  market  for  beeves  in  the  States, 
whereas  in  Mexico  they  fetched  a  fair  price,  and  in  hard 
dollars,  not  paper-money.  Accordingly,  I  arranged 
with  the  aforesaid  Bacon  to  take  a  drove  of  about  four 
hundred  cattle  across  the  Rio  Grande,  of  which  he  was 
to  provide  one  half  and  I  the  other. 

Unfortunately,  it  was  just  when  I  was  ready  to  start 
on  this  trip  that  I  was  ordered  to  join  Hunter's  ex 
pedition,  and  of  course  I  couldn't  go.  But  the  cattle 
were  already  at  the  ranch  and  all  the  arrangements 
were  made,  so  some  one  must  take  them.  Bacon 
wouldn't  go  himself — he  was  a  dealer  pure  and  simple, 
not  a  rancher — but  he  recommended  a  half-bred  German 

373 


374  THE    JUMPING    "BUCKS" 

named  Blackaller  as  a  trustworthy,  competent  man 
for  the  business.  So  this  rascal  went  off  with  our  cattle, 
whilst  I  went  Calif ornian-hunting  to  Fort  Lancaster. 

Now  it  seems  all  went  well  till  the  drove  was  nearing 
Eagle  Pass,  when  Blackaller  learned  that  a  stringent 
law  had  been  passed  by  our  Legislature,  prohibiting 
the  export  of  cattle,  and  enacting  heavy  penalties  for 
those  even  attempting  to  evade  it.  At  first,  so  the 
vaqueros  reported,  he  thought  of  trying  to  run  the 
cattle  across  lower  down  the  river,  but  finding  that  the 
passes  were  all  strongly  held  by  frontier  guards,  he 
finally  drove  them  on  to  the  prairie  between  the  Carisa 
Creek  and  the  Rio  Grande,  and  there  turned  them  adrift 
to  fend  for  themselves.  I  need  scarcely  say  the  fellow 
never  came  near  me  again,  which  was  perhaps  as  well 
for  his  health. 

For  many  months  I  was  too  much  occupied  with 
Indian-hunting  and  other  things  to  look  up  these  cattle, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  spring  of  the  following  year  1865 
that  I  could  find  time  to  recover  them.  They  were  all 
properly  branded,  and  I  may  say  that  I  managed  to 
recover  the  most  of  them,  but  in  doing  so  had  one  of 
the  narrowest  escapes  of  losing  my  scalp  that  ever  befell 
me,  which  shall  be  told  in  its  proper  place  hereafter. 

That  spring  and  summer  the  Comanches  and  Lepans 
were  more  troublesome  than  ever,  and  gave  us  little 
rest  or  peace.  I  don't  propose  to  tell  of  all  the  hunts 
we  had  after  them,  as  there  was  so  much  sameness  in 
them ;  but  one  or  two  may  be  worth  mentioning  as  illus 
trating  their  methods  of  fighting. 

Early  in  the  month  of  May,  whilst  I  was  still  at  the 
ranch,  the  Comanches  came  into  the  country  and  killed 
and  scalped  three  men,  not  far  from  my  neighbourhood. 
I  sent  down  to  my  camp  at  once  for  a  dozen  of  my  boys, 
and  the  day  after  their  arrival  took  a  scout  round  to  see 
if  we  could  hit  a  likely  trail  to  follow.  The  second  day 
we  came  on  one  which  I  guessed  was  made  by  about 


A    SHARP    GALLOP  375 

fifteen  or  twenty  mounted  Indians.  It  was  quite  fresh 
and  easy  to  follow,  and  after  riding  hard  on  it  for  a  couple 
of  hours  we  came  in  sight  of  the  scoundrels.  There 
were  fifteen  ponies  right  enough,  but  the  Indians  were 
riding  double,  so  there  were  thirty  of  them  all  told, 
nearly  half  of  them  armed  with  rifles. 

Directly  they  saw  us  they  formed  up  in  their  usual 
V  shape,  expecting  us  to  charge.  But  I  had  no  mind 
to  do  that,  for  though  we  probably  could  have  whipped 
them,  it  would  have  been  with  a  heavy  loss  on  our  side. 
The  country  was  for  the  most  part  level  and  open,  but 
broken  here  and  there  by  hollows.  Away  to  the  right, 
about  two  miles  distant,  was  a  low  hill  with  a  mott  of 
good  timber  on  it,  and  no  covert  near  it  except  a  few 
scattered  live-oaks.  Here  was  the  very  position  for  us, 
and  without  dwelling  a  moment,  for  it  we  rode  at  a 
gallop. 

The  Comanches,  who  were  rather  nearer  the  mott 
than  we  were,  tried  all  they  knew  to  cut  us  off  ;  the 
dismounted  men  running  by  the  side  of  the  mounted, 
and  all  yelling  like  demons.  However,  we  were  just 
too  quick  for  them,  and  got  into  the  mott  a  hundred 
yards  ahead. 

The  Comanches  then  halted,  and  seemed  rather  un 
certain  what  to  be  at.  Meantime  we  had  dismounted, 
and  got  our  horses  behind  as  good  cover  as  we  could. 
I  posted  my  men  under  cover  at  the  edge  of  the  mott, 
ordering  one  half  to  give  the  Indians  a  volley  when  they 
came  on,  and  the  other  to  reserve  their  fire  in  case  they 
tried  to  charge  home.  Presently  the  Comanches  hardened 
their  hearts  and  made  a  charge,  screaming  and  yelling 
with  all  their  might,  and  dancing  about  at  such  a  rate 
that  it  was  uncommonly  hard  to  hit  them.  We  held 
our  fire  till  they  were  within  about  sixty  yards  ;  then 
the  six  rifles  spoke,  and  two  of  the  dancing  devils  dropped. 
The  rest  fell  back  into  a  hollow,  and  for  some  minutes 
were  quite  quiet ;  then  out  they  charged  again,  only 


376  THE      JUMPING    "BUCKS" 

to  retire  as  before,  but  this  time  they  carried  away  three 
wounded  with  them. 

This  performance,  varied  by  occasional  potting  at  us, 
from  behind  the  live-oaks,  went  on  for  more  than  an 
hour,  without  doing  us  any  damage  except  slightly 
wounding  a  horse.  Some  of  them  had  white  men's 
scalps  in  their  hands,  and  these  they  flourished  about, 
taunting  us  with  being  afraid  to  come  out  and  get  them. 

The  chief,  a  big  buck  Indian,  as  naked  as  the  day  he 
was  born  (as  indeed  they  all  were,  save  for  their  buck 
skin  leggings  and  a  plentiful  daubing  of  paint),  tried  his 
hardest  to  make  his  followers  charge  the  mott.  After 
a  long  harangue,  he  suddenly  made  a  rush  for  a  live- 
oak  about  fifty  yards  from  the  mott,  and  planted 
his  lance  in  the  ground  by  the  side  of  it.  Some  half- 
dozen  of  his  men  followed  him ;  the  rest  hung  back, 
despite  his  vehement  exhortations. 

The  old  fellow  was  plucky  enough,  for  though  we  made 
it  pretty  hot  for  him,  he  held  his  ground,  and  annoyed 
us  greatly  by  jumping  out  every  now  and  then  and  taking 
a  snapshot  at  any  one  unwary  enough  to  show  even  the 
tip  of  his  nose. 

The  thing  got  to  be  a  nuisance  and  had  to  be  put  a  stop 
to,  for  quick  as  he  was  in  his  movements,  just  flashing 
out  from  his  tree  and  back  again  like  lightning,  he 
was  making  very  good  shooting.  I  therefore  called  up 
Jake  Hillson,  a  splendid  rifle-shot,  and  told  him  to  wipe 
out  that  buck  for  me.  "I've  had  half  a  dozen  pulls 
at  the  crittur  already,"  he  said,  "  but  he's  so  tarnation 
smart  in  his  jump,  I  can't  git  him  nohow." 

"  Lay  your  rifle  on  the  spot  he  jumps  to,  and  when 
he  comes  into  your  sight,  pull,  and  it's  odds  on  your 
nailing  him." 

Once  more  our  friend  jumped  out  and  back,  untouched  ; 
but  the  next  jump  was  his  last,  for  Hillson's  rifle  rang  out, 
and  the  Indian  sprang  into  the  air  and  fell  dead  in  his 
tracks,  shot  through  the  heart.  The  fall  of  their  chief 


A   CHIP    OF   THE    OLD    BLOCK  377 

dashed  the  courage  of  the  rest,  and  they  retreated  into 
the  hollow,  taking  the  body  with  them  ;  but  not  before 
one  of  the  boys  knocked  over  another,  who  had  turned 
round  to  flourish  the  scalp  he  carried  at  us.  After  wait 
ing  half  an  hour,  and  finding  they  didn't  renew  the 
attack,  we  sallied  forth  to  find  the  Indians  had  gone, 
riding  off  double  again  as  hard  as  they  could  go.  We 
found  the  bodies  of  the  chief,  and  two  other  Indians, 
thrown  into  a  water-hole  in  the  hollow,  but  the  wounded 
they  carried  off  with  them. 

We  had  given  these  gentry  a  pretty  good  lesson,  at 
slight  cost  to  ourselves  ;  for  all  our  casualties  were  the 
wounded  horse,  and  one  of  the  boys  slightly  hit  by  one 
of  the  shots  of  the  vanishing  chief  just  before  Hillson 
bowled  him  over.  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  follow  them 
any  farther,  for  it  was  risky  work  to  tackle  them  in  the 
open,  well-armed  as  they  were,  with  so  small  a  party, 
and  so  returned  to  camp  next  day. 

At  the  end  of  May  1864  an  organised  band  of  renegades 
from  Texas  collected  in  Mexico,  hoisted  the  Union  flag, 
crossed  the  Rio  Grande,  and  took  the  small  town  of 
Eagle  Pass,  where  they  looted  the  cotton  stored  for 
export  to  Mexico.  Expresses  were  sent  out  at  once  to 
summon  all  the  frontier  regiments  within  reach,  to 
turn  these  rascals  out.  It  was  boot  and  saddle  all  up 
and  down  the  district,  and  in  double  quick  time  my 
command  was  en  route  for  the  Rio  Grande.  We  were, 
however,  turned  back  after  a  few  days'  march,  as  our 
services  were  not  required,  the  renegades  having 
dispersed  at  the  first  alarm  of  the  approach  of  reliefs. 

A  garrison  of  two  companies  of  Rangers  was  left  in 
the  town,  who  drove  off  and  killed  a  good  many  of  the 
ruffians  when  they  returned  a  second  time.  Some  of 
them  retired  to  Mexico,  but  a  strong  band  moved  up  the 
river  to  the  San  Felipe  Springs,  plundering  as  they  went. 
There  they  were  encountered  by  a  frontier  force  under 
a  Captain  Minshul,  son  of  old  Asa,  of  Vigilance  Committee 


378  THE    JUMPING    "BUCKS" 

fame,  who  surprised  and  captured  a  number  of  them. 
These,  to  the  number  of  about  thirty,  he  promptly  hanged, 
thereby  proving  himself  a  true  chip  of  the  old  block. 

The  next  bout  with  Indians  I  may  mention  was  late 
that  same  summer  ;  and  curiously  enough  there  was 
then  a  repetition  of  much  the  same  jumping  perform 
ance  as  in  the  previous  one,  only  this  time  we  had  the 
Redskins  penned  in  a  mott  instead  of  being  penned 
ourselves. 

I  was  in  camp  with  the  command  on  the  Leona,  when 
a  runner  came  galloping  in  with  a  most  urgent  message 
from  the  brothers  Rheeders,  begging  me  to  come  to  their 
help  against  the  Comanches,  who  in  some  force  were 
raiding  the  country,  and  sweeping  it  of  horses.  They 
had  already  killed  and  mutilated  the  men,  women  and 
children  on  two  ranches,  and  there  was  no  time  to  be 
lost  if  the  other  settlements  were  to  be  saved.  The 
brothers,  of  whom  there  were  two,  were  holding  their 
ranch,  with  eight  more  good  men,  and  thought  they 
could  keep  the  Indians  off  till  we  arrived. 

I  got  that  message  an  hour  before  daybreak,  the 
runner  having  ridden  all  night  without  drawing  rein. 
He  was  well  mounted,  and  made  a  dash  from  the 
ranch,  with  the  Indians  at  his  tail  for  some  miles  ;  but 
his  horse  was  too  good  for  them,  and  he  shook  them 
off,  carrying  with  him,  however,  one  of  their  arrows, 
stuck  fast  in  the  cantle  of  his  saddle.  Within  an  hour 
I  was  on  the  road  to  the  Hondo,  with  twenty-five  of 
my  best-mounted  men,  and  with  sixty  good  miles  to  ride 
before  nightfall.  Steadily  we  pushed  along,  and  just 
at  dusk  made  the  ranch,  where  you  may  guess  my  friends 
the  Rheeders  were  right  glad  to  see  us. 

The  Comanches  had  cleared  out  at  our  approach, 
so  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  that  night  but  to  rest 
in  preparation  for  the  next  day's  work.  The  folks  at 
the  ranch  saw  to  our  horses  and  got  us  a  good  supper  ; 
then,  whilst  they  mounted  guard  against  a  surprise, 


THE    COMANCHES'    STRONG    POSITION    379 

we  of  the  command  stretched  ourselves  on  our  blankets, 
where  best  we  could,  and  soon  slept  the  sleep  of  the 
weary. 

The  first  streak  of  daylight  next  morning  saw  us  all  on 
the  trail,  which  was  easy  enough  to  follow,  for  the  Indians 
were  driving  a  big  bunch  of  horses  they  had  stolen, 
and  we  knew  they  would  make  a  fight  of  it  rather  than 
allow  them  to  be  recaptured.  Our  horses  were  fresh 
as  paint  again  after  their  rest  and  feed,  and  wre  pushed 
on  at  a  sharp  lope,  confident  we  should  overtake  the 
thieving  villains  and  whip  them  ;  which  we  did,  for  we 
were  thirty-five  in  number,  all  well  armed,  and  used 
to  the  game.  The  brothers  reckoned  that  the  Indian 
band  was  at  least  sixty  strong,  but  only  a  few  of  them 
appeared  to  have  rifles  ;  I  think  their  estimate  was 
near  the  mark. 

In  about  two  hours  we  found  the  Comanches  in  a  thick 
mott  crowning  a  low  hill  near  the  Hondo,  with  a 
brushy  ridge  running  back  from  it  to  the  dense  chaparral 
that  lined  the  banks  of  the  creek  ;  an  awkward  position 
to  attack,  and  one  from  which  the  Indians  could  easily 
retire,  if  they  found  it  untenable.  I  saw  at  once  we 
couldn't  hope  to  get  many  of  them  ;  but  could  we  recover 
the  stolen  horses  ?  They  had  got  a  bunch  of  about 
a  hundred  securely  hidden  in  the  mott,  and  they  had 
to  be  captured  somehow  or  other. 

I  halted  my  little  party  about  three  hundred  yards 
from  the  Indian  camp,  in  a  hollow,  and  then  crept  for 
ward  to  reconnoitre  the  position.  From  the  top  of  the 
low  ridge  on  which  I  lay,  I  could  see  that  between 
me  and  the  mott  there  were  some  scattered  live-oaks, 
and  here  and  there  some  brushy  cover,  through  which 
the  boys  could  creep  pretty  close  to  the  base  of  the 
hill.  Behind  me  the  hollow  trended  round,  till  it  ran 
up  to  the  wooded  ridge  at  the  back  of  the  mott.  I 
rejoined  my  boys  in  a  few  minutes,  dismounted  them, 
and  left  the  linked  horses  in  charge  of  two  men. 


380  THE    JUMPING    "BUCKS" 

I  had  no  doubt  that  the  Indians  thought  we  were  a 
much  stronger  party  than  we  were,  else  they  would 
have  fought  us  in  the  open,  as  is  their  usual  custom. 
To  keep  up  the  delusion,  and  effect  a  surprise,  which 
scares  Indians  badly,  as  indeed  it  does  most  people,  I  sent 
my  senior  Lieutenant,  Dan  Williams,  with  eight  picked 
men  to  creep  round  by  the  hollow  and  get  unobserved 
on  to  the  ridge  in  the  rear  of  the  mott.  There  he  was 
to  lie  quiet  till  I  gave  the  signal  for  my  boys  to  charge, 
which  would  be  one  shrill  blast  on  my  whistle.  Hearing 
that,  he  was  to  fire  a  volley  into  the  Indians,  and  kick 
up  all  the  row  the  boys  could  raise.  Away  he  went 
with  his  little  party,  and  I  moved  my  men  up  to  the 
edge  of  the  ridge  and  ordered  them  to  lie  down  with 
intervals  between  them  of  about  ten  yards. 

Very  few  of  the  Comanches  could  be  seen,  for  most 
of  them  were  hidden  behind  the  trees,  and  didn't  show  ; 
but  one  big  buck,  whom  I  judged  to  be  the  chief,  from 
the  bunch  of  eagle  feathers  in  his  hair,  stood  out  watch 
ing  our  movements,  having  no  doubt  caught  a  glimpse 
of  us  as  we  topped  the  ridge.  To  attract  their  atten 
tion,  and  let  Dan  get  round  unseen,  I  now  ordered  the 
boys  to  commence  individual  firing  as  fast  as  they 
could,  but  before  they  did  so  I  took  a  pot-shot  myself 
at  the  gentleman  in  feathers,  but  missed  him,  which  was 
a  bad  mull,  for  he  wasn't  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  off.  The  bullet  must  have  whizzed  pretty  close 
to  him,  for  he  gave  such  a  jump  I  thought  he  was  hit ; 
but  he  was  only  scared. 

The  enemy  promptly  replied  with  a  volley  of  arrows, 
all  of  which  fell  short,  and  a  few  rifle  shots,  which  did 
no  damage. 

We  kept  this  up  till  such  time  as  I  thought  Dan  and 
his  men  had  reached  their  position  ;  then  I  ordered 
an  advance  to  the  foot  of  the  slope,  all  of  us  creeping 
and  crawling  through  the  long  grass  and  brush,  which 
fairly  hid  us.  This  brought  us  within  about  eighty 


HE    JUMPS   NO   MORE  381 

to  a  hundred  yards  of  the  mott,  at  which  range 
Indians  are  more  deadly  with  their  bows  and  arrows 
than  they  are,  as  a  rule,  with  rifles. 

The  buck  with  the  feathers  was  an  extra  good  shot 
with  his  bow,  and  one  could  see  him  peering  round  the 
tree  for  a  chance  at  any  one  who  showed  himself.  The 
grass  in  which  we  lay  was  so  long  that  to  get  a  shot 
it  was  necessary  at  least  to  show  one's  head  above  it. 
The  moment  one  of  the  boys  did  this,  out  popped  my 
friend,  and  let  drive  an  arrow,  generally  unpleasantly 
near  his  mark.  Once  he  hit  it,  for  as  one  of  the  boys 
next  to  me  raised  his  head  and  shoulders  to  take  a 
snap  at  another  Indian,  the  chief,  quick  as  lightning, 
sent  an  arrow  through  the  fleshy  part  of  his  left  arm, 
and  then  began  to  whoop  and  dance  in  triumph. 

The  time  to  charge  had  nearly  come,  for  I  felt  sure 
that  Dan  must  already  be  at  his  post ;  and  I  had  too 
many  wounded,  and  couldn't  afford  to  lose  any  more. 
But  if  I  could  polish  off  that  chief  before  I  gave  the 
order,  it  would  have  a  demoralising  effect  upon  the 
enemy,  and  perhaps  save  some  lives.  Hillson,  my 
prize  shot,  wasn't  with  the  party,  so  I  must  even  try 
what  I  could  do  myself. 

By  this  time  the  big  Indian,  having  been  missed 
several  times,  had  grown  careless  and  over-confident, 
and,  instead  of  popping  back  the  moment  he  had  shot, 
paused  an  instant  to  see  the  result.  I  had  carefully 
marked  where  he  jumped  to  ;  and  now  I  knelt  up  to 
tempt  him.  out,  and  laid  my  Sharp's  rifle  on  the  spot. 
I  hadn't  more  than  a  few  seconds  to  wait,  finger  on 
trigger  and  eye  on  sight ;  but  whilst  I  did  so  a  couple 
of  arrows  came  hurtling  past  me,  unpleasantly  near. 
Out  came  the  chief,  to  see  if  he  couldn't  do  better  than 
his  men,  and  the  instant  he  came  into  my  sight,  I  squeezed 
the  trigger.  I  had  got  him  sure  enough  this  time,  for, 
to  my  great  relief,  he  fell  forward  on  his  face,  and  lay 
like  a  log. 


382  THE    JUMPING    "BUCKS" 

Seeing  this,  I  blew  my  whistle  long  and  loudly,  then 
gave  the  order  to  charge,  and  away  we  went  at  the 
double.  Hardly  were  the  words  out  of  my  mouth 
when,  from  the  ambuscade,  rang  out  Dan  Williams' 
volley. 

The  Indians  in  the  mott,  who  till  then  showed  a 
bold  enough  front,  and  evidently  meant  fighting,  were 
now  cowed  and  terrified  by  this  sudden  attack  on  their 
rear,  and  ran  for  their  lives  ;  so  that  when  we  reached 
their  camp  none  but  the  dead  and  wounded  were  to 
be  seen.  Through  the  brush  they  went,  as  only  them 
selves,  or  scared  peccary,  with  hounds  at  their  heels, 
could  go,  and  it  was  quite  useless  to  follow  them.  The 
ruse  had  succeeded  perfectly  and  Dan  had  managed 
his  surprise  so  cleverly,  and  got  so  close  to  the  camp, 
that  when  he  opened  fire  he  bowled  over  seven  of  the 
unsuspecting  enemy. 

Poor  Dan  !  he  was  a  right  good  fellow,  and  a  first- 
class  Indian  fighter.  If  he  had  any  fault  it  was  that  he 
was  too  plucky,  and  held  Indians  too  cheaply.  Unfortu 
nately  this  cost  him  his  life  not  long  after  this,  as  I 
shall  have  to  tell  in  its  proper  place. 

Our  victory  had  been  cheaply  won,  for  our  casualties 
were  only  three  men  wounded  by  arrows,  only  one  of 
whom  was  dangerously  hurt.  On  the  other  hand  we 
had  killed  ten  Indians,  recovered  all  the  stolen  horses, 
eighty-seven  in  number,  and  captured  many  of  their 
ponies,  as  well  as  much  spoil  in  the  shape  of  spears, 
bows  and  arrows,  blankets,  etc. 

It  was  not  advisable  to  linger  in  the  mott,  lest  the 
Comanches  should  rally  and  attempt  to  retake  the 
horses  ;  so  as  soon  as  we  had  collected  all  the  animals, 
and  packed  the  spoil,  we  set  off  on  our  return  to  the 
Hondo,  well  pleased  with  our  morning's  work. 


CHAPTER    XV 

FRENCH    OF   THE    LEONA 

WHILST  we  were  away  on  the  Indian  hunt  last  described, 
two  inoffensive  Mexicans  were  basely  murdered  on 
the  Leona  Creek,  not  far  from  the  headquarters  of  my 
command.  A  man  named  French,  a  well-to-do  cattle- 
rancher,  was  the  perpetrator  of  the  deed,  which  would 
hardly  be  worth  mentioning — murders  were  such  common 
occurrences  in  those  days — if  it  were  not  for  the  signal 
vengeance  his  two  sons  wreaked  upon  all  those  concerned 
in  the  punishment  inflicted  on  their  father.  These 
young  fellows,  Jim  and  Dick  French,  were  both  in  my 
company  ;  plucky,  dare-devil  boys,  and  first-rate 
frontiersmen,  though  the  eldest  was  only  twenty-one, 
and  the  youngest  twenty. 

The  whole  story,  including  the  lynching  of  the  murderer, 
is  so  characteristic  of  the  Texas  of  those  days  that  perhaps 
it  is  worth  telling. 

According  to  the  evidence  of  his  own  vaqueros,  two 
Mexicans  came  from  across  the  Rio  Grande  to  buy  beeves 
from  French,  and  brought  with  them  solid  silver  dollars 
to  pay  for  them  ;  scarce  commodities  in  Texas  in  those 
days,  when  all  the  money  we  ever  saw  was  Confederate 
paper.  It  was  these  same  dollars  that  cost  the  poor 
fellows  their  lives.  After  the  usual  bargaining  and  hag 
gling,  the  price  of  the  beeves  was  agreed,  and  French  set 
out  with  the  two  unsuspecting  Mexicans  to  hunt  them  up. 

The  dollars  being  too  heavy  to  carry  cattle-hunting, 
were  left  behind  at  the  ranch.  When  the  devil  put  it 
into  French's  head  that  he  might  have  the  dollars,  and 

383 


384  FRENCH    OF    THE    LEONA 

keep  the  cattle  too,  I  know  not ;  but  it  got  there  pretty 
early  in  the  expedition,  for  the  murders  were  committed 
on  the  morning  of  the  second  day  out.  The  little  party 
were  camped  on  the  edge  of  the  dense  chaparral  that 
lines  the  sides  of  the  creek,  and,  after  the  customary  cup 
of  coffee,  one  of  the  Mexicans  went  out  to  hunt  up  the 
horses  for  the  day's  work,  and  with  him  went  the  only 
vaquero  French  had  brought  with  him.  It  doesn't 
appear  whether  this  latter  had  any  suspicion  of  foul  play, 
but  at  any  rate,  instead  of  hunting  up  the  horses  he  hid 
himself  in  the  brush  hard  by,  and  saw  all  that  happened. 

No  sooner  had  Mexican  No.  1  got  out  of  earshot,  than 
French  suddenly  clapped  his  six-shooter  to  the  head  of 
No.  2,  who  fell  without  a  groan.  The  body  was  dragged 
into  the  chaparral,  and  the  murderer  returned  to  wait 
for  the  other  victim.  Presently  he  came  back  with  the 
horses,  and  he  too  was  shot  from  behind.  The  body 
having  been  disposed  of  as  before,  French  sat  down  and 
had  his  breakfast  as  though  nothing  had  happened. 

The  trembling  witness,  lying  hid  in  the  brush,  was 
afraid  to  come  out,  lest  he  too  should  be  shot  ;  so  after 
waiting  for  him  some  time,  his  master  set  out  for  the 
ranch,  driving  with  him  the  cattle  they  had  collected. 
But  before  doing  so  he  took  the  saddles,  bridles,  and 
blankets  of  the  Mexicans,  and  hid  them  too  in  the  cha 
parral,  turning  their  horses  loose  to  find  their  way  home. 

When  he  got  back  he  told  his  people  that  the  Mexicans 
and  he  had  quarrelled  about  the  quality  of  the  cattle,  and 
they  had  gone  off  to  buy  beeves  elsewhere,  and  would 
come  for  their  money  when  they  had  got  what  they  wanted. 

He  no  doubt  thought  he  had  managed  the  business  very 
cleverly,  and  had  no  fear  that  his  crimes  would  ever 
be  brought  home  to  him.  The  non-appearance  of  the 
vaquero  was  puzzling,  but,  when  he  didn't  return  after 
the  lapse  of  two  or  three  days,  he  imagined  he  had  run 
off  to  Mexico  with  his  horse,  as  those  gentry  occasionally 
did.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  man  was  too  scared  at  what 


THE    VIGILANCE    COMMITTEE    AGAIN      385 

he  had  witnessed  to  return  to  the  ranch,  and  went  off  at 
once  to  French'snextdoor  neighbour, a  man  named  Simons, 
who  owned  a  ranch  some  fifteen  miles  down  the  creek. 

Now  this  man  was  not  on  friendly  terms  with  French, 
and  directly  he  heard  the  vaquero's  story  concluded  that, 
if  it  were  true,  his  enemy  deserved  hanging.  Simons 
repeated  what  he  had  heard  to  some  five  others  of  the 
neighbours,  and  they,  partly  because  French  was  unpopu 
lar,  and  partly  because  murdering  Mexican  cattle-buyers 
savoured  of  killing  the  geese  that  laid  the  silver  eggs, 
agreed  that  he  ought  to  be  hanged. 

The  vaquero  took  the  whole  party  over  to  the  cha 
parral  and  showed  them  the  remains  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
where  their  saddlery  was  hidden.  Then,  knowing  his 
two  boys  were  away  with  me,  they  went  straight  off  to 
French's  ranch,  found  the  murdered  Mexicans'  dollars 
in  his  possession,  and  arrested  him. 

Simons  was  for  hanging  him  then  and  there,  but  the 
rest  overruled  this,  and  took  him  into  San  Antonio  with 
the  intention  of  handing  him  over  to  the  authorities. 
But  before  they  could  do  this,  the  news  of  the  capture 
reached  the  ears  of  Hiram  Minshul,  old  Asa's  son,  and 
Sol  Chiff,  the  Vice-President  of  the  Vigilance  Committee, 
who,  with  some  of  their  friends,  seized  the  prisoner 
and  forthwith  hanged  him  on  a  china-tree  on  the  plaza 
in  front  of  the  house  of  Padre  Sanchez,  the  highly  respected 
Catholic  priest  of  the  town.  The  Padre,  a  very  decent 
old  fellow,  was  highly  indignant  at  this  outrage,  and  had 
the  tree  promptly  cut  down.  There,  for  the  moment, 
the  matter  ended,  for  of  course  none  of  the  Vigilance 
Committee  people  were  punished. 

The  sons  returned  home  three  days  after  their  father 
had  been  carried  off,  and  followed  hard  after  him  to  San 
Antonio,  where  they  arrived  the  day  after  he  had  been 
hanged.  Their  first  impulse,  as  they  told  me  afterwards, 
was  to  shoot  down  Hiram  Minshul  and  as  many  of  the 
gang  as  they  could  ;  but  these  folks  were  on  the  alert, 

25 


386  FRENCH    OF    THE    LEONA 

and  the  boys  recognised  that,  if  they  tried  that  on,  they 
would  probably  be  hanged  themselves  before  they  could 
exact  one  half  of  the  vengeance  that  would  satisfy  their 
wrath.  So  they  promptly  cleared  out  of  the  town,  deter 
mined  to  bide  their  time,  let  the  matter  blow  over,  and, 
when  it  was  forgotten,  as  it  would  soon  be,  take  their 
enemies  unawares  and  kill  every  one  who  was  connected 
with  their  father's  death. 

French  was  hanged  in  the  early  days  of  November,  and, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  all  who  knew  them,  the  two  boys 
took  no  steps  to  avenge  his  death  for  nearly  six  months. 
By  that  time  so  common  an  occurrence  as  the  lynching 
of  a  man  was  forgotten,  or,  if  it  was  ever  talked  of,  it  was 
only  because  the  sons  had  taken  it  so  quietly,  and  shown 
so  little  "  grit."  Simons  and  the  rest,  who  for  some  time 
walked  warily,  and  kept  a  sharp  look-out  for  Jim  and 
Dick  French,  were  now  quite  at  their  ease,  for  the  boys 
appeared  to  be  as  friendly  with  them  as  ever.  They  were, 
however,  destined  to  have  a  rude  awakening. 

By  the  end  of  May  1865,  Lee's  surrender  was  known 
in  Texas  ;  the  "  break-up  "  of  the  Confederacy  had  come, 
and  my  frontier  company  was  of  course  disbanded.  A 
kind  of  interregnum  followed,  for  though  San  Antonio 
and  the  other  chief  towns  were  held  by  Federal  troops, 
who  promptly  established  the  regime  of  law  and  order, 
the  outlying  districts  were  left  to  themselves  for  some 
time,  and  of  course  every  man  was  a  law  unto  himself 
for  the  time  being.  This  was  the  opportunity  the  two 
young  fellows  had  waited  for  so  patiently.  Their  enemies 
were  lulled  into  false  security,  there  were  no  frontier  troops 
to  interfere  with  them,  and  they  would  wipe  out  every 
man  however  remotely  concerned  in  their  father's  death  ! 

Hiram  Minshul,  Asa  his  father,  Sol  Chiff,  and  the 
rest  of  the  leaders  of  the  Vigilance  Committee,  with  "  an 
intelligent  anticipation  of  events  to  come,"  had  cleared 
out  before  the  "  break-up  "  was  actually  known,  and  had 
gone  no  one  knew  whither,  probably  into  Mexico ;  but 


JIM    AND    DICK    BEGIN  387 

there  were  plenty  left  to  satisfy  their  craving  for  ven 
geance,  and  every  one  of  them  they  would  shoot  like  dogs. 

Directly  then  the  company  had  been  disbanded,  Jim 
and  Dick  came  down  to  the  Leona,  well  mounted,  and 
armed  with  a  couple  of  six-shooters  and  a  repeating  rifle 
apiece.  When  they  arrived,  Simons  was  out  cow-hunting 
with  a  friend  of  his  named  Bishop,  and  their  camp  was 
a  few  miles  down  the  creek,  not  very  far  from  the  spot 
where  French  had  murdered  the  Mexicans. 

The  boys  followed  them  at  once,  stole  into  their  camp 
just  before  daybreak,  roused  them  from  their  sleep,  and 
shot  them  down  before  their  eyes  were  well  open.  The 
three  Mexican  vaqueros  with  Simons  promptly  bolted, 
and  the  two  Frenches,  leaving  the  bodies  where  they  fell, 
set  off  at  once  for  the  ranch  of  a  man  named  McConnel, 
some  miles  higher  up  the  Leona  than  Simons'  place. 
The  vaqueros,  they  knew,  would  soon  spread  the  news  of 
the  deed  they  had  done,  so  they  pushed  on  all  that  day 
and  best  part  of  the  next  night,  reaching  McConnel's 
ranch,  well  ahead  of  the  news,  whilst  it  was  yet  dark. 

Now  McConnel  had  two  sons,  handy  men  with  their 
six-shooters,  as  was  well  known  to  the  French  boys,  for 
they  had  served  with  them  on  the  frontier.  Having 
then,  as  they  thought,  to  deal  with  three  well-armed 
fighting  men,  they  determined  to  run  no  risks,  but  to  lie 
by  close  to  the  door  of  the  ranch,  shoot  the  first  man 
that  came  out,  and  then  rush  the  house  for  the  others.  It 
is  true  that  the  McConnel  boys  had  had  no  hand  in  old 
French's  death,  but  their  father  had,  and  they  must  pay 
the  penalty  too. 

The  watch  was  not  a  long  one,  for  just  after  sun-up 
McConnel  senior,  newly  awakened  from  sleep,  came  to 
his  door,  and  fell  across  his  threshold,  shot  through  the 
head.  Into  the  house  dashed  the  murderers,  only  to  find 
it  empty,  for  the  sons,  as  it  happened,  were  away  cow- 
hunting,  and  so  escaped  their  father's  fate.  The  young 
ruffians  dragged  the  body  into  an  outhouse  close  by,  and 


388  FRENCH    OF    THE    LEONA 

then  sat  down  coolly  to  breakfast  in  their  victim's  house  ; 
then,  their  thirst  for  vengeance  as  keen  as  ever,  set  off 
for  Hay's  ranch,  nearly  a  day's  ride  across  the  prairie. 
After  a  brief  halt  at  midday  to  rest  their  horses,  they 
had  arrived,  as  the  afternoon  was  waning,  within  about 
five  miles  of  Hay's  place  when,  as  they  topped  a  ridge, 
they  saw  the  man  they  sought  riding  towards  them.  He 
saw  them  at  the  same  moment,  instantly  turned  his  horse's 
head,  and  galloped  homewards  for  dear  life.  The  news 
that  the  French  boys  were  "  on  the  shoot  "  had  reached 
him,  and  he  was  making  his  way  to  the  settlements  to 
escape  them. 

The  pursuers  and  pursued  were  separated  by  about 
three  hundred  yards,  and  for  a  time  the  latter  held  his 
own.  For  a  couple  of  miles  or  so  the  grim  race  lasted, 
without  change  of  position  ;  the  hunted  man  rode  for  his 
life,  and  the  hunters  followed  after,  thirsting  for  his  blood. 
Now  the  better  condition  and  quality  of  the  latter's 
horses  began  to  tell,  and,  yard  by  yard,  they  began  to 
overhaul  their  quarry.  Now  he  was  only  a  hundred  yards 
ahead  ;  now  only  fifty,  and  he  drew  his  six-shooter  to 
make  a  fight  for  his  life.  Turning  in  his  saddle,  without 
pulling  rein,  he  let  drive  and  missed ;  fired  a  second  and 
third  time,  with  the  same  result.  Then,  in  desperation, 
he  pulled  his  horse  sharp  round  to  get  a  fair  aim  ;  but  the 
poor  animal  was  done,  and  he  and  his  rider  came  heavily 
to  the  ground.  Now  his  enemies  were  upon  him,  and, 
before  he  could  rise,  put  two  bullets  into  him  where  he 
lay,  and  so  slew  their  fourth  victim. 

Then  they  caught  and  unsaddled  his  horse  and  turned 
it  loose,  camping  on  the  creek  hard  by  for  the  night. 

One  wonders  how  they  slept ;  but  probably  they  were 
not  troubled  by  dreams  of  what  they  had  done. 

The  next  man  they  had  marked  down  for  vengeance 
was  one  named  Stokes,  who  lived  near  Atacosa  Court 
House,  and  thither  then  they  wended  their  way  ;  but 
whilst  they  were  still  some  miles  distant,  they  learned 


THE    "NOONING"    PLACE  389 

from  some  vaqueros  that  Stokes  and  his  son  had  started 
three  weeks  before  with  a  bunch  of  cattle  for  Eagle  Pass, 
on  the  Rio  Grande.  So  they  turned  back  at  once,  and 
struck  for  the  well-beaten  trail  that  led  there,  confident 
that  they  would  encounter  those  they  sought  on  their 
homeward  journey. 

The  way  was  long,  but  they  kept  steadily  on  by  easy 
stages,  knowing  they  must  meet  their  men  sooner  or 
later  ;  nor,  as  far  as  I  gathered  from  the  story  they  told 
me,  did  any  thought  of  relenting  enter  their  souls  through 
all  the  long  ride.  Indeed  their  one  thought  was  to 
avenge  their  father's  death,  for  which  the  blood  they  had 
already  shed  was  quite  inadequate,  so  long  as  any  one 
concerned  in  it  was  still  alive. 

They  followed  the  road  for  about  a  fortnight,  when  one 
midday  they  came  on  Stokes  and  his  son  "  nooning  "  it 
under  the  shade  of  some  live-oaks,  hard  by  a  water-hole. 
No  news  of  the  Frenches'  vendetta  had  reached  these  men, 
and  they  had  no  suspicion  of  their  impending  fate.  They 
greeted  the  newcomers,  and  these  dismounted,  apparently 
to  join  them  in  their  midday  rest.  News  was  asked  for 
on  either  side,  and  the  father  and  son  were  much  interested 
to  hear  of  the  Federals'  doings  in  San  Antonio. 

Soon  it  was  time  to  saddle  up  and  part,  each  on  their 
own  road.  The  Stoke ses  were  busy  with  their  horses  ; 
the  last  business  that  would  ever  occupy  them  in  this 
world.  For  now  the  prearranged  signal  was  given,  and 
Jim  French,  whilst  he  gave  it,  whipped  out  his  pistol  and 
shot  the  younger  Stokes  dead.  Dick  French  fumbled 
with  his  six-shooter,  and  the  elder  Stokes  ran  for  his  life, 
though  he  had  no  chance,  for  his  arms  were  on  his  saddle. 
Both  the  brothers  fired  after  him,  and  a  bullet  through 
his  leg  brought  him  to  the  ground.  Now  they  bound 
him  hand  and  foot,  carried  him  back  to  where  they  had 
lately  sat  talking  and  laughing  together,  and  hanged  him 
on  the  live-oak  beneath  which  lay  the  dead  body  of  his 
son.  Then  they  unsaddled  the  dead  men's  horses,  turned 


390  FRENCH    OF   THE    LEONA 

them  loose  as  before,  and  departed,  leaving  the  dollars  of 
their  victims  for  the  first  chance  thief  who  might  come 
along,  and  their  corpses  for  the  buzzards  and  coyotes. 

This  is  a  tale  of  cold-blooded,  ruthless  murder,  it  will 
be  said,  not  fit  to  b©  told  to  decent  law-abiding  people  ; 
besides,  it  is  incredible  that  two  young  fellows,  such  as 
here  described,  could  be  so  bloodthirsty  and  remorseless 
in  their  vengeance.  But  it  is  true  nevertheless,  though 
not  quite  complete  yet  ;  for  yet  another  death  penalty 
had  to  be  paid  before  they  were  satisfied,  or  partly  so. 

What  these  boys  did  was  the  outcome  of  the  lawless 
state  of  society  in  which  they  lived,  where  only  private 
vengeance  could  requite  private,  or  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
public  wrongs,  and  where  human  life  was  held  as  cheap 
as  that  of  the  "  beasts  that  perish."  Moreover,  as  is  always 
the  case,  at  least  in  my  experience  in  the  West  and  South, 
when  men  start  shooting  like  this,  the  appetite  grows  by 
what  it  feeds  on,  till  blood-shedding  seems  to  become  a 
real  pleasure.  I  think  these  young  fellows  had  reached  this 
stage,  for  now  they  grew  quite  reckless,  and  were  a  mind 
to  run  "amok,"  not  only  against  their  father's  enemies,  but 
against  any  one  who  had  held  office  in  the  State  service. 

In  this  frame  of  mind  they  rode  into  Atacosa  Court 
House,  a  one-horse  little  place,  though  the  capital  of 
the  county  of  the  same  name.  Their  errand  there  was 
to  seek  Jake  Peat  who,  next  to  Simons,  had  been  most 
prominent  in  their  father's  arrest,  and  who  they  heard 
was  in  the  place.  Jake  knew  well  enough  they  would  be 
after  him  at  any  moment,  and  therefore  went  fully  armed 
and  prepared  for  the  meeting.  He  was  a  fighting  man, 
and  loudly  declared  he  wasn't  afraid  of  the  French  boys, 
but  would  shoot  them  on  sight,  if  they  ever  came  near  him. 

The  town  boasted  one  drinking  and  gambling  saloon, 
and  the  boys,  inquiring  for  Peat,  were  told  he  was  there 
with  several  of  his  friends.  They  hitched  their  horses 
hard  by,  and,  six-shooters  in  hand,  rushed  in,  shouting 
"  hands  up  !  "  as  they  did  so. 


IN   THE    ATACOSA    SALOON  391 

Standing  at  the  bar,  or  seated  at  the  tables,  there  were 
about  a  dozen  men  in  the  place,  and  all  promptly  obeyed 
the  order,  except  Jake  and  a  friend,  who  were  standing 
together  talking.  They  whipped  out  their  six-shooters, 
but  before  they  could  fire  the  boys  pulled  on  them,  and 
both  fell — Peat  shot  through  the  chest,  and  the  other  man 
through  the  left  shoulder.  Peat  was  mortally  wounded, 
and  never  spoke  again  ;  but  his  friend,  who  still  held  his 
pistol,  sat  up,  and  let  drive  at  Jim  French,  sending  a 
bullet  through  the  fleshy  part  of  his  left  arm.  Before 
he  could  fire  again,  Dick  French  shot  him  through  the 
head.  Then,  as  coolly  as  though  nothing  had  happened, 
they  both  walked  out  of  the  saloon,  six-shooters  in  hand, 
no  one  daring  to  hinder  them. 

As  it  happened,  business  took  me  to  the  Court  House 
that  very  afternoon,  and  as  I  was  riding  into  the  place,  I 
met  an  acquaintance  who  told  me  what  had  been  done. 
He  was  a  good  bit  flurried,  and  said  he  was  going  to  get 
out  of  the  town,  which  didn't  seem  a  very  healthy  place 
just  then,  for  the  French  boys  were  on  the  shoot,  and 
vowing  they  would  kill  every  one  who  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  defunct  Vigilance  Committee  or  the  State 
service,  adding,  "  If  I  were  you,  I  should  go  too,  for 
those  boys  will  shoot  you  else  to  a  certainty  ;  they're  real 
mad,  I  tell  you."  "  Nonsense,"  I  answered,  "  the  French 
boys  shoot  me  !  Why,  they  served  under  me  for  months 
on  the  frontier,  and  we  were  the  best  of  friends." 

So  I  rode  on  into  the  town,  which  seemed  strangely 
quiet  and  deserted,  and  my  friend  continued  his  journey. 
I  can't  say  I  felt  quite  easy  in  my  mind  all  the  same,  for, 
as  I  have  said,  when  men  go  "on  the  shoot,"  they  are 
not  always  so  particular  as  they  ought  to  be  as  to  whom 
they  practise  on.  I  certainly  looked  to  my  six-shooters, 
and  put  them  handy  for  use  in  case  of  accidents,  and  then 
went  on  to  hunt  up  my  young  friends. 

As  I  passed  the  Court  House,  I  saw  them  riding  some 
hundred  yards  or  so  ahead  of  me,  and,  putting  a  bold 


392  FRENCH    OF    THE    LEONA 

front  on  my  uneasiness,  called  after  them  by  name.  At 
once  they  swung  their  horses  round,  and  came  to  meet 
me  with  their  six-shooters  at  the  ready.  It  was  rather  a 
nervous  moment,  but  directly  they  made  sure  who  it  was, 
they  put  them  up  and  greeted  me  in  the  most  friendly 
way.  "  Why,  boss,"  said  Jim,  who  carried  his  left  arm 
in  a  sling,  "  what  brings  yew  here  ?  Anyway,  I'm  real  glad 
to  see  yew  again."  "  And  so  am  I,"  said  Dick. 

I  told  them  I  had  happened  to  come  into  the  town  on 
business,  and  had  just  heard  of  their  doings.  "  And  now, 
boys,"  I  said,  "  I  think  you've  done  enough  of  this  shoot 
ing  business,  and  perhaps  a  little  too  much,  if  you  ask 
me.  Besides,  if  you  don't  clear  out,  you'll  have  the 
whole  country  raised  on  you  directly.  I  should  advise 
you  to  get  across  into  Mexico  as  soon  as  you  can." 

"  Jist  what  we  was  figuring  to  do,  boss,"  said  Dick ; 
"  your  head's  level,  sure  enough.  We  reckon  we've  about 
wiped  out  all  them  as  we  wanted  to  this  side  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  over  there  we're  goin'  to  hunt  round  a  bit 
for  Asa  and  Hiram  Minshul,  Sol  Chiff,  and  any  of  the 
dog-gorned  gang  we  can  find."  "  We  reckon  to  work 
down  as  far  as  Matamoras,"  chimed  in  Jim,  "  for  we  heard 
say  as  some  on  'em  had  skedaddled  there.  If  we  do  happen 
on  'em,  yew  bet  your  bottom  dollar,  Cap.,  we'll  hang  old 
Asa  with  his  own  rope,  and  I'll  count  that  the  best  day's 
work  that  ever  I  done." 

:'  Well,  boys,"  I  said,  "  I  wish  you  luck  in  that,  any 
way.  Now  good-bye,  for  you'd  best  be  gone."  So  we 
shook  hands  and  parted,  and  I  never  heard  any  more  of 
them. 

As  to  their  quest  for  Asa  Minshul,  it  was  most  improb 
able  they  would  succeed  in  it,  for  the  old  villain  was  far 
too  cute  to  stay  in  Matamoras,  even  if  he  had  gone  there  ; 
it  was  too  near  the  frontier  of  Texas  to  be  healthy.  Most 
likely  he  had  gone  up  North  straight  away,  and  was  by 
that  time  a  shining  light  in  some  Methodist  church  in 
Boston,  or  elsewhere. 


I3OOK    V 
THE  BREAK-UP,  AND  AFTER 


393 


CHAPTER    I 
MY  COMPANY'S  LAST  INDIAN  FIGHT 

IN  this  autumn  of  1864  the  last  scenes  in  the  awful  drama 
of  Civil  War  were  being  enacted  far  away  from  us  in  Texas. 
But  though  news  filtered  slowly  down  to  us  in  our  remote 
corner  of  the  Confederacy,  it  was  uniformly  bad,  and 
told  of  defeat  and  disaster  without  a  gleam  of  success  to 
lighten  the  despondency  that  reigned  throughout  the 
South.  None  but  those  who  actually  lived  in  the  South 
during  that  wartime,  and  were  regarded  as  true 
Southerners  by  the  people,  can  realise  what  the  victory 
of  the  North  meant  to  that  proud  race. 

The  great  struggle  was  begun  by  most  Southerners 
with  a  light  heart,  and  an  absolute  assurance  of  success. 
The  Yankees  wouldn't  fight ;  but  if  they  were  rash  enough 
to  do  so,  we  could  whip  them  easily.  Now,  after  three 
years  and  a  half  of  desperate  fighting,  General  Lee,  and 
the  remnant  of  his  gallant  army  that  survived  the  dreadful 
slaughter  of  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  were  shut  up 
in  the  lines  of  Petersburg.  The  South  was  exhausted 
and  drained  of  men,  money,  and  munitions.  No  more 
armies  could  be  raised  to  help  our  leader,  and  to  all  men's 
minds  the  end  we  dreaded  seemed  very  near. 

All  the  world  knows  now  that  it  was  only  his  indomit 
able  soul  and  resourceful  war-genius  that  staved  it  off 
for  a  few  brief  months.  He  and  his  shoeless,  ragged, 
starving  army  covered  themselves  with  glory,  but  the 
cause  for  which  they  had  fought  so  gallantly  was  lost 
already. 

In  the  towns  and  settlements  a  kind  of  hushed  expect- 


396    MY    COMPANY'S    LAST    INDIAN    FIGHT 

ancy  prevailed  ;  business  and  pleasure  alike  seemed  at  a 
standstill,  and  men  waited  and  watched  as  before  the 
coming  of  some  great  storm  or  catastrophe  of  nature. 
But  on  the  frontier  it  was  different,  for  our  untiring 
enemies  the  Indians  kept  us  always  on  the  alert,  and  it 
was  only  by  constant  vigilance  that  we  could  keep  them 
in  check  at  all.  It  was  as  though  they  knew  that  the  time 
of  comparative  freedom  from  restraint  they  had  enjoyed 
for  more  than  three  years  was  drawing  to  an  end,  and 
that  they  must  make  the  most  of  what  remained. 

All  that  autumn  and  winter  not  only  we,  but  all  the 
other  frontier  Rangers,  almost  lived  in  the  saddle,  and 
still  could  not  efficiently  protect  the  lives  of  the  ranchers 
and  their  property  from  the  ubiquitous  Indians.  Their 
ravages  extended  up  the  frontier  from  the  lower  Nueces 
and  Frio  Rivers,  along  the  line  of  the  Rio  Grande  del 
Norte,  and  almost  across  to  the  Brazos  River  on  the  east, 
a  country  nearly  700  miles  in  length  by  500  in  breadth. 
All  therefore  that  the  few  companies  of  Rangers  could  do 
was  to  establish  their  camps  where  best  they  could  protect 
the  widely  scattered  ranches,  and  follow  up  the  raiding 
bands  as  soon  as  news  reached  them  that  they  were  in 
their  neighbourhood.  Of  course  many  of  the  marauders 
got  clear  away  with  their  plunder  and  the  scalps  of  their 
unfortunate  victims,  surprised  in  some  lonely  ranch  ; 
for  they  spared  neither  men,  women,  nor  children  if  they 
could  murder  them  without  too  much  risk  to  themselves. 

Their  main  object  in  all  their  raids,  however,  was  horse- 
stealing  ;  the  killing  of  cattle  and  the  murder  of  defence 
less  human  beings  were  only  pleasant  interludes  to  their 
chief  business.  Many  and  many  a  weary  and  fruitless  ride 
we  had  that  season  over  the  endless  prairies  and  through 
the  difficult  mountain  region  between  the  Pecos  and 
the  Rio  Grande  ;  but  sometimes  we  were  lucky  enough  to 
come  up  with  the  crafty  thieves,  and  then  we  neither 
gave,  nor  expected,  quarter.  After  the  two  Indian  fights 
described  in  the  last  chapter  but  one,  it  may  perhaps 


DAN'S    COUSIN    KILLED  397 

be  wearisome  to  tell  of  another  ;  but  it  was  the  last  one 
in  which  I  ever  took  part,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
disastrous,  so  maybe  the  story  is  worth  giving. 

It  was  in  April  1865,  and  my  company  was  still  in  camp 
on  the  Leona,  under  command  of  my  senior  Lieutenant, 
Fred  English,  for  I  was  away  at  the  ranch  for  a  spell  of 
leave,  to  look  after  my  own  business,  when  news  was 
brought  there  that  a  strong  band  of  about  eighty  Co- 
manches  was  slaying,  burning,  and  raiding  on  the  middle 
Nueces.  They  had  met  with  a  hot  reception  at  the  first 
ranch  they  raided,  for  the  two  brothers  who  owned  it, 
Scotsmen  of  the  name  of  Cockburn,  had  fought  desperately 
for  their  lives  and  property,  and  killed  three  of  the 
marauding  demons  before  they  were  overpowered  and 
scalped.  With  them  died  the  wife  and  three  children 
of  one  of  the  brothers — how,  it  is  best  perhaps  not  to 
know  ;  the  other  brother  fortunately  had  no  family. 

The  sight  of  white  men's  blood  had  inflamed  the 
ComancheV  thirst  for  more,  and  the  next  ranch  they  came 
to  they  fiercely  attacked,  and  promptly  captured.  Not  a 
very  great  exploit  for  eighty  savages  to  accomplish,  for  it 
was  only  held  by  one  white  man  and  three  of  his  vaqueros, 
who  usually  are  not  much  good  in  a  fight.  However, 
they  managed  to  kill  a  couple  of  the  Indians  before  they 
were  killed,  scalped,  and  mutilated  in  the  nameless 
fashion  of  these  savages. 

The  unfortunate  owner  of  this  place  was  well  known  to 
me,  poor  fellow,  for  he  was  a  cousin  of  my  junior  Lieuten 
ant  Dan  Williams,  and  no  doubt  it  was  that  fact  that  led 
Dan  and  English  to  throw  away  their  lives  in  their  rash 
thirst  for  vengeance,  as  will  be  seen.  By  this  time  the 
alarm  had  been  given  all  along  the  river,  and  the  ranchers, 
not  strong  enough  to  hold  their  own,  had  taken  refuge 
elsewhere  ;  but  the  Indians,  if  they  couldn't  get  them, 
had  got  pretty  well  all  their  horses,  and  were  driving  off 
a  very  big  bunch,  probably  nearly  two  hundred  in  num 
ber.  The  moment  English  heard  the  tidings  he  mustered 


398     MY    COMPANY'S    LAST    INDIAN    FIGHT 

all  hands  in  camp,  twenty-five  all  told,  and  with  Dan 
Williams,  his  junior,  set  off  in  pursuit.  At  the  same  time 
he  sent  an  express  to  a  detachment  of  ten  of  the  boys 
a  few  miles  higher  up  the  creek,  with  orders  to  join  me 
at  my  ranch,  and,  if  I  were  not  there,  to  come  on  after 
him,  without  waiting  for  me. 

Luckily  I  was  at  home,  and,  having  a  fresh  horse  just 
caught,  we  were  speedily  riding  over  the  prairie  to  join 
the  rest.  I  was  anxious  for  my  friends  English  and 
Dan  Williams,  especially  when  I  heard  the  fate  of  the 
latter 's  cousin,  and  for  my  brave  boys  too.  The  odds 
were  terribly  against  them,  and  I  had  reason  to  fear 
they  might  do  something  rash,  for  both  were  brave  to 
a  fault,  and  were  apt  to  hold  Indians  and  their  fighting 
powers  too  cheaply.  It  is  always  foolish  to  do  that, 
especially  when  your  enemy  is  cornered,  and  must  fight 
or  die  ;  even  a  rat,  when  he  can't  bolt,  will  fight  to  the 
death. 

Dan  Williams  was  a  great  friend  of  mine,  and  we  had 
been  in  many  a  tough  Indian  scrimmage  together,  and, 
so  far,  had  always  come  out  on  top.  It  was  he  who  led 
the  attack  on  the  rear  of  the  Indians'  position  so  cleverly 
in  the  Hondo  fight,  when  we  whipped  them  so  badly 
and  got  their  horses,  mainly  through  the  way  he  carried 
out  his  orders.  And  now  he  was  going  to  fight  his  last 
fight  against  any  foe  ! 

The  two  Lieutenants  and  their  party  had  about  eight 
hours'  start  of  me,  but  their  trail,  and  that  of  the  Indians, 
was  a  very  plain  one,  leading  as  it  did  over  the  grassy 
prairie,  and  I  rode  on  it  as  fast  as  I  dared  press  the  horses. 
When  night  fell  I  was  sure  from  the  sign  that  they  were 
not  far  ahead  of  us  ;  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  they, 
and  we,  were  catching  up  with  the  Comanches. 

Unfortunately  it  was  a  dark,  moonless  night,  and  I 
had  perforce  to  wait  for  daylight,  for  fear  of  missing  the 
trail,  anxious  as  I  was  to  push  on  and  be  in  time  for  the 
fight.  A  foreboding  of  ill  weighed  on  me,  and,  tired  out 


A  RASH  ACTION  399 

as  I  was,  I  hardly  closed  iny  eyes  all  that  weary  night. 
An  hour  before  daybreak  I  roused  the  boys  out  of  their 
heavy  sleep,  and  with  the  first  streak  of  dawn  we  were 
on  the  trail  again.  I  found  afterwards  that  our  party 
had  camped  only  five  or  six  miles  ahead  of  us  ;  if  we  had 
had  but  half  an  hour's  more  daylight  we  should  have 
caught  them  in  time  !  But  it  wasn't  to  be.  Plainer  and 
plainer  grew  the  wide  trail,  and  we  rode  on  it  at  a  fast 
lope. 

The  bright,  fresh  morning,  and  the  certainty  that  we 
were  now  close  at  the  heels  of  our  friends,  had  dispelled 
my  fears,  and  I  had  every  hope  of  catching  them  in  time. 
But  that  half  hour  of  daylight,  that  had  failed  us  over 
night,  still  held  us  in  its  toils,  and  by  that  much  we  missed 
our  opportunity. 

We  had  ridden  perhaps  ten  miles,  and,  as  we  topped 
a  rise  on  the  prairie,  saw  a  sight  that  made  my  blood 
curdle.  A  mile  or  so  away  on  the  level  plain,  without 
a  tree  on  it  to  hide  the  view,  was  the  band  of  Indians, 
dismounted,  and  drawn  up  in  their  favourite  "  V " 
formation  to  receive  the  boys'  attack.  The  latter  were 
charging  right  at  this,  and  were  then,  as  I  judged,  within 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  it.  In  the  clear,  dry  air  of 
the  plains  the  whole  scene  was  as  clearly  visible  as  though 
it  was  close  at  hand. 

In  frantic  excitement,  and  forgetful  of  the  distance 
that  separated  us,  I  yelled  to  them  to  halt,  and  then  fired 
my  rifle  as  we  galloped  on,  hoping  they  might  hear  that 
and  wait  for  our  coming.  But  they  heard  nothing,  and 
saw  nothing  but  the  band  of  murdering  villains  in  front 
of  them,  against  whom  they  dashed  at  a  full  gallop.  The 
'  V  "  closed  in  on  the  little  troop  of  boys  who  were  so 
recklessly  throwing  away  their  lives,  and  in  a  moment 
friend  and  foe  were  mixed  in  extricable  confusion.  On 
we  rode  to  the  help  of  our  hard-pressed  friends,  and  as 
we  neared  them  the  tangle  unravelled  itself  gradually, 
and  those  of  the  boys  who  still  kept  their  saddles  came 


400     MY    COMPANY'S    LAST    INDIAN   FIGHT 

clear  out  of  the  mass  of  yelling  Indians.  But  five  horses 
galloped  riderless  over  the  plain,  and  one  of  them  was 
Dan  Williams'.  Six  more  of  the  boys,  and  English 
amongst  them,  came  out  of  the  melee  badly  wounded,  but 
they  had  accounted  for  twenty  of  the  Comanches,  who 
never  would  rob  or  murder  any  more,  for  they  lay  dead 
in  their  tracks,  killed  by  the  fire  from  the  six-shooters 
at  very  short  range. 

Meantime  we,  the  latest  comers,  and  the  remnant  of 
the  attacking  party  were  in  a  perilous  position,  for  the 
Indians,  shaken  as  they  were  by  the  furious  onslaught 
we  had  seen,  outnumbered  us  by  nearly  three  to  one,  and, 
if  they  mounted  and  charged  home,  could  pretty  well 
ride  over  us.  It  was  hopeless  to  attempt  to  rescue  our 
fallen  comrades,  for  they  would  be  despatched  with 
tomahawks  the  moment  they  fell ;  all  we  could  do  was 
to  look  out  for  ourselves. 

I  halted  my  little  party  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  off, 
and  sent  the  horses  to  the  rear,  making  the  men  lie  down. 
With  the  survivors  from  that  desperate  charge  we  were 
twenty-eight  all  told,  for  four  of  the  wounded  were  past 
any  more  fighting.  Each  man  had  his  rifle  and  six- 
shooter,  and  if  the  Indians  did  get  us,  I  knew  we  could 
make  it  pretty  hot  for  them  first. 

By  this  time  the  Comanches  had  got  to  their  horses, 
and  were  ranged  up  in  line  in  front  of  us.  Evidently 
they  meant  charging,  but  I  had  good  hope  of  stopping 
them,  if  only  the  boys  kept  steady.  No  time  was  to  be 
lost,  and  from  my  position  in  the  centre  of  the  line  I 
ordered  the  boys  to  fire  alternate  volleys  from  left  to 
right  when  I  gave  the  signal.  With  whoops  arid  yells 
on  came  the  savages,  and  it  almost  looked  as  if  they 
meant  to  ride  over  us.  As  they  came  within  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  they  let  fly  their  arrows,  and  the  few  who 
had  rifles  banged  away  at  us,  but  without  any  result 
beyond  grazing  the  heel  of  one  of  the  boys  with  a  bullet. 

Now  they  were  only  fifty  yards  off,  and  as  yet  we  had 


KEEPING  THEM  ON  THE  RUN  401 

fired  no  shot.  Then  the  signal  was  given,  and  the  fifteen 
rifles  on  the  left  were  emptied  into  "  the  brown  "  of  them. 
A  good  many  horses  were  riderless  now,  but  the  rest  kept 
on  till  the  volley  on  the  right  was  poured  into  them,  at 
very  short  range,  whilst  we  on  the  left  gave  them  the 
contents  of  our  six-shooters.  It  was  too  hot  for  any 
Indians  to  stand,  and  now  they  wheeled  right  and  left, 
and  bolted  as  hard  as  they  could  go  to  get  out  of  the  fire, 
leaving  seventeen  dead  and  wounded  behind  them. 
One  of  the  former,  evidently  the  chief  of  the  band,  from 
his  feather  headgear,  and  who  led  his  men  gallantly 
enough,  fell  almost  on  top  of  us,  shot  clean  through  the 
heart.  So  they  had  got  pretty  close  up  before  we  turned 
them. 

The  Indians  being  now  well  on  the  run,  it  was  best 
policy  to  keep  them  at  it ;  besides,  there  were  the  stolen 
horses  to  be  recovered,  and  we  were  bound  to  have  some 
of  them  at  any  rate.  Some  five  miles  in  front  lay  the 
Nueces  River  with  its  wide  border  of  dense  chaparral, 
and  for  that  they  were  making  as  fast  as  they  could  go, 
driving  the  big  mob  of  horses  before  them.  "  Boot  and 
saddle  "  therefore  was  the  word  now,  and  after  them  we 
went  as  hard  as  we  could  gallop.  But  they  had  a  longish 
start  of  us,  and  the  covert  the  savages  were  bolting  for 
seemed  all  too  near. 

Every  man  rode  his  best  in  that  race,  and  our  horses 
having  the  legs  of  the  Indian  ponies,  we  gradually  drew 
up  to  them,  till  we  were  not  more  than  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  behind  them.  The  chaparral  was  only 
about  a  mile  ahead  of  them  now,  and  how  the  beggars 
did  ride  to  reach  its  shelter  !  No  thought  of  turning  on 
their  pursuers  seemed  to  enter  their  heads  ;  their  one 
idea  was  plainly  enough  to  get  to  covert  with  as  many  of 
the  horses  as  they  could  keep  in  front  of  them.  Of  course 
a  good  many  of  these  had  broken  back  during  the  pur 
suit,  and  were  now  peacefully  grazing  on  the  prairie 
behind  us,  and  could  easily  be  gathered  by  and  by. 

26  " 


402     MY    COMPANY'S   LAST   INDIAN   FIGHT 

The  Comanches  kept  a  fairly  even  line,  though  they 
were  rather  scattered  in  driving  the  horses,  which  ran  in 
bunches.  Each  man  lay  almost  flat  on  his  barebacked 
pony,  so  that  it  wasn't  very  easy  ta  shoot  them  at  the 
gallop.  However,  I  thought  a  volley  would  help  to 
scatter  them,  and  so  let  out  more  of  the  horses.  There 
was  no  time  to  halt  and  fire,  so  we  let  drive  with  our 
rifles  as  we  went,  and,  by  good  luck  more  than  anything 
else,  bowled  over  a  couple  of  the  Indians.  This  so  scared 
the  rest  that  they  seemed  to  forget  even  their  precious 
horses,  and  broke  in  all  directions,  bolting  into  the  thick 
chaparral  like  so  many  hunted  rabbits.  They  carried 
a  good  many  of  the  loose  horses  with  them,  but  we  got 
seventy  they  left  behind. 

It  would  have  been  quite  useless,  besides  being  very 
risky,  to  follow  the  Indians  into  the  brush  ;  moreover, 
we  had  our  wounded  to  look  after,  so  took  the  back  trail 
immediately,  driving  the  captured  horses  before  us.  On 
the  way  we  gathered  forty-five  more,  so  we  did  pretty 
well  considering  all  things,  for  we  had  recovered  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  out  of  the  two  hundred  they  had 
stolen. 

On  the  scene  of  his  rash  exploit  lay  my  poor  friend 
Dan,  with  a  spear  thrust  right  through  his  body,  and 
terribly  hacked  by  tomahawks.  It  was  the  same  with 
the  other  four,  and  all  were  dead,  but  not  scalped  or 
mutilated  ;  the  savages  had  had  no  time  for  that.  Of  our 
six  wounded,  four  were  in  desperate  case ;  and  English 
amongst  them,  suffering,  poor  fellow,  from  severe  spear 
wounds.  He  was  then  past  speaking,  and  evidently 
dying. 

All  we  could  do  was  to  bind  up  the  wounds  as  best  we 
could,  and,  making  litters  with  the  Indians'  spears  an*'1 
our  own  blankets,  carry  them  as  tenderly  as  possible  U 
the  nearest  ranch,  a  long  day's  journey.  Poor  English 
never  lived  to  reach  it,  but  died  just  before  sundown, 
still  unconscious.  The  other  three  didn't  live  through 


A    DEARLY    BOUGHT    VICTORY  403 

the  night,  so  we  had  to  mourn  the  loss  of  nine  brave 
souls  out  of  our  little  company.  Truly  a  grievous  loss, 
which  might  so  easily  have  been  avoided.  Next  day  we 
dug  their  graves  under  the  shade  of  some  giant  live-oaks, 
hard  by  the  creek,  and  I  read  the  English  Church  Burial 
Service  over  them,  out  of  a  tattered  Prayer-book,  found 
by  the  owner  of  the  place  after  much  search. 

Notwithstanding  the  whipping  we  had  given  the 
Comanches,  and  the  spoil  of  horses  we  had  taken,  it  was 
a  sad  and  mournful  party  that  marched  into  camp  the 
day  after  the  funeral.  We  had  lost  some  of  our  best  and 
bravest  boys,  but  no  one  was  more  missed  than  my  poor 
friend  Dan,  the  pluckiest,  cheeriest  in  all  the  company. 

Thirty-nine  long  years  have  passed  since  that  last 
fight  of  ours  with  the  Comanches,  and  now  I  suppose 
these  savages  have  been  exterminated,  or  driven  over 
the  border  into  Mexico.  Where  they  roamed,  plunder 
ing  and  murdering,  are  now  peaceful  settlements  and 
prosperous  cattle-ranches,  whose  owners  can  sleep  with 
out  fear  of  midnight  raids  and  yelling  savages. 

Well,  "  the  old  order  changes,"  and  in  this  case  it  must 
be  a  change  for  the  better. 


CHAPTER    II 

CATTLE-HUNTING    ON   THE    CAKISA 

IT  was  on  April  9,  1865,  that  Lee  surrendered  to  General 
Grant  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  but  this  was  not 
officially  known  in  Texas  till  more  than  a  month  after 
the  event. 

Desperately  as  the  South  had  clung  to  the  hope  of 
victory,  and  confidently  as  she  trusted  in  the  resourceful 
genius  of  her  great  leader,  it  had  been  patent  to  all 
thinking  men  for  many  months  past  that  the  great  struggle 
between  such  unequal  forces  could  have  but  one  ending. 
And  now  that  the  end  had  come,  I  believe  the  feeling  of 
the  vast  majority  throughout  the  Southern  States  was 
one  of  relief.  We  in  Texas,  far  away  from  the  central 
theatre  of  the  war,  had  suffered  but  comparatively  little, 
but  the  great  slave-holding  States  of  the  Confederacy 
were  devastated  and  ruined,  as  it  seemed  then,  beyond 
recovery.  Reduced  to  misery  and  despair,  all  men  were 
sick  of  fighting,  and  longed  for  peace  ;  but  how  would 
the  triumphant  Northerners  treat  their  fallen  foes  now 
they  were  at  last  beaten  to  their  knees  ?  That  was  the 
great  question  for  us  all. 

My  own  belief  is  that  if  we  had  realised  that  the  Federal 
Government  would  behave  as  magnanimously  as  it  did 
to  those  it  was  pleased  to  call  "  Rebels,"  the  war  would 
have  ended  much  sooner.  But  the  conduct  of  the  war 
on  the  Federal  side  had  given  us  no  reason  to  believe  in 
its  clemency  or  its  justice.  In  face  of  the  constant  re 
monstrances  of  General  Lee,  and  the  noble  example  he 
set  them,  when  Northern  property  and  Northern  lives 

404 


GENERAL    LEE'S    PROCLAMATION        405 

were  at  his  mercy,  the  Federal  commanders,  with  rare 
exceptions,  treated  the  unfortunate  Southerners  with  a 
harshness  and  a  cruelty  that  were  an  everlasting  disgrace 
to  their  cause. 

If  any  proof  of  this  is  wanted,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
recall  the  proclamation  issued  to  his  troops  by  the  great 
Southern  leader  when  he  invaded  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
incapable  of  maligning  his  bitterest  enemy,  and,  after 
reminding  them  of  their  obligation,  as  members  of  a 
civilised  Christian  State,  to  observe  certain  laws,  whether 
in  an  enemy's  country  or  their  own,  went  on  as  follows  : 
"  The  commanding  General  considers  that  no  greater 
disgrace  could  befall  the  army,  and  through  it  our  whole 
people,  than  the  perpetration  of  the  barbarous  outrages 
upon  the  innocent  and  defenceless,  and  the  wanton 
destruction  of  private  property  that  have  marked  the 
course  of  the  enemy  in  our  own  country." 

So,  not  only  the  leaders  of  the  Secession  movement, 
civil  and  military,  but  all  those  who  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  war,  had  grave  cause  to  fear  for  their  liberty 
and  their  property.  But  to  the  surprise  of  all  the 
world,  and  especially  of  the  Southerners  themselves,  the 
victorious  Federals  behaved  with  a  generosity  and 
magnanimity  for  which  no  parallel  can  be  found  in 
history.  Jefferson  Davis,  the  President  of  the  Con 
federacy,  suffered  a  short  imprisonment,  and  was  then 
released  ;  and  no  other  punishment  was  inflicted  on 
him,  except  the  forfeiture  of  his  civil  rights.  Every  one 
else  who  chose  to  apply  for  the  benefits  of  the  amnesty 
proclaimed  was  restored  to  his  full  status  as  a  citizen 
of  the  Union,  as  soon  as  he  had  taken  the  oath  of  al 
legiance,  or,  as  we  called  it  in  the  South,  the  "  ironclad 
oath."  No  man's  property  was  confiscated  save  that 
of  one,  and  he  the  greatest  and  the  noblest  of  the 
Southerners. 

It  is  a  standing  disgrace  to  the  people  of  the  North, 
to  their  Congress  and  to  their  President,  that  General 


406      CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CARISA 

Lee's  ancestral  estates  and  houses  in  Virginia  were  not 
restored  to  him.  Even  his  wife's  house  at  Arlington 
was  pillaged  of  all  the  mementos  of  Washington,  whose 
adopted  son  her  father  was,  and  when  she  petitioned 
Congress  for  their  return  was  rudely  refused.  Un 
fortunately  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  greatness  of  soul 
all  men  have  come  to  recognise,  was  dead,  and  Andrew 
Johnson,  a  very  different  man,  reigned  in  his  stead,  or 
these  things  would  never  have  been  done. 

So  General  Lee,  with  the  quiet  heroism  which  was 
his  chief est  characteristic,  ended  his  days  in  comparative 
poverty,  as  President  of  the  College  at  Lexington,  in 
Virginia  ;  and  dying,  left  behind  him  an  imperishable 
memory,  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  all  his  people. 

Down  in  our  corner  of  the  late  Confederacy  we  cer 
tainly  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  the  treatment  meted 
out  to  us  by  the  Federal  authorities,  and  for  my  own 
part  I  was  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  them  from 
the  very  first. 

In  the  closing  days  of  May  1865,  San  Antonio  was 
occupied  by  a  Federal  force  of  two  regiments  of  infantry 
and  one  of  cavalry,  and  the  town  was  made  the  head 
quarters  of  the  South-western  District  of  the  State. 

The  troops  were  under  the  command  of  a  smart  young 
cavalry  general  who  had  served  with  some  distinction 
in  the  war,  but  whose  name  I  have  forgotten  (in  my 
diary  I  only  refer  to  him  as  "  the  General  "),  but  I  re 
member  he  was  killed  some  years  after  the  Civil  War 
in  the  last  big  fight  with  the  Apache  Indians,  on  the 
north-west  frontier,  when  many  of  his  command  also 
lost  their  lives. 

The  leading  lawyer  in  San  Antonio  was  a  Mr.  Cleave- 
land,  who,  though  a  man  of  strong  Northern  proclivities, 
had  been  popular  with  all  parties  throughout  the  war. 
Of  course  he  was  discreet  enough  to  keep  his  opinions 
to  himself,  except  in  intercourse  with  friends  he  could 
trust,  of  whom  I  was  one.  He  took  no  part  either  for 


NORTHERN    CLEMENCY  407 

or  against  the  Southern  cause,  and  though  his  leanings 
were  pretty  well  known,  he  was  never  molested  even 
when  party  feeling  ran  highest.  He  then,  on  the  advent 
of  the  Federals,  was  at  once  made  Mayor  of  the  town, 
and  they  could  not  have  chosen  a  better  man  ;  for  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  people,  and  his  absolute 
impartiality,  enabled  him  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos 
in  a  surprisingly  short  time.  Neither  the  General  nor 
Cleaveland  molested  any  one  for  his  political  opinions, 
or  for  any  action  done  during  the  war,  unless  he  had 
been  guilty  of  some  crime. 

The  greater  criminals,  such  as  Wasp,  Dunn,  and  Asa 
Minshul,  had  made  themselves  scarce  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Federals  ;  but  some  of  the  smaller  fry  rashly  re 
mained  behind,  and  suffered  the  penalty  of  their  crimes, 
after  trial  by  courts-martial.  But  I  can  vouch  for  it 
that  no  one  was  shot,  or  hanged,  who  did  not  richly 
deserve  his  fate. 

This  leniency  was  the  more  remarkable  since,  as  I 
have  already  told,  many  Unionists,  notably  those  at 
Friedricksburg,  were  done  to  death  most  shamefully, 
without  trial  of  any  sort,  by  such  ruffians  as  Dunn  and 
Wasp.  Indeed,  as  lately  as  the  previous  month  of  April 
there  had  been  renewed  trouble  at  this  same  place 
with  the  Germans,  who  were  to  a  man  strong  Unionist 
sympathisers. 

I  was  ordered  from  headquarters  to  send  a  detach 
ment  with  the  troops  sent  against  them.  Not  liking 
the  work  which  I  guessed  would  be  done,  I  did  not  go 
myself,  but  sent  my  then  senior  Lieutenant  with  twenty 
men.  There  was  some  little  fighting,  in  which  the 
Germans  were  easily  beaten,  and  several  prisoners  were 
taken  by  our  troops.  These  poor  fellows  had  done 
nothing  to  exasperate  their  captors,  for,  as  I  have  said, 
they  made  but  a  poor  resistance,  and  I  believe  our  total 
casualties  did  not  exceed  two,  and  they  were  only  slightly 
wounded  ;  so  there  was  no  excuse  for  what  followed. 


408      CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CARISA 

The  prisoners  were  confined  in  the  lock-up  of  the 
little  town  ;  a  trumpery  wooden  building  over  which 
a  weak  guard  was  mounted.  The  very  first  night  a 
mob  of  men  appeared,  overpowered  the  guard,  broke 
open  the  place,  took  out  the  ten  prisoners,  and  hanged 
them  on  the  live-oaks  outside  the  town.  Whether  this 
was  done  with  the  connivance  of  the  officer  command 
ing  the  party  I  can't  say,  but  I  strongly  suspect  it 
was,  though  my  subaltern  averred  that  he,  at  any  rate, 
knew  nothing  about  it. 

It  was  an  infamous,  barbarous  crime  against  humanity, 
and  why  it  was  perpetrated  is  difficult  to  imagine,  except 
that  a  taste  for  blood  seemed  to  possess  the  ruffian 
elements  amongst  us.  For  this  business  only  two  men 
were  made  amenable  to  justice,  and  they  were  tried 
by  court-martial  and  shot  at  San  Antonio.  The  chief 
culprit,  a  Major  Roberts,  who  was  in  command  of 
the  party,  and  who  must  have  connived  at  the  murders, 
bolted  into  Mexico,  and  was  no  more  seen  on  our  side 
of  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  day  we  marched  into  the  town  to  be  disarmed 
and  disbanded,  my  friend  the  Mayor  introduced  me  to 
the  General  in  very  flattering  terms,  and  we  became 
at  once  very  friendly.  He  was  a  fine  soldierly  man, 
without  any  "  side  "  or  pretence  about  him,  and  he 
treated  me,  in  a  short  time,  as  though  we  had  been 
comrades  in  arms  instead  of  enemies  arrayed  against 
each  other  in  one  of  the  bitterest  civil  wars  ever  waged. 

All  power,  both  civil  and  military,  centred  in  the 
General  in  command  of  the  district  of  San  Antonio,  which 
comprised  the  greater  part  of  Western  Texas,  so  that 
his  hands,  ably  as  he  was  assisted  by  my  friend  Cleave- 
land,  were  pretty  full  for  some  time.  But  when  civil 
order,  never  very  strongly  established  in  Texas,  had 
been  in  a  measure  restored,  and  Freedmen's  Bureaux,  to 
protect  the  negroes,  and  set  them  to  work  for  wages,  been 
duly  formed,  he  had  bo  turn  his  attention  to  the  frontier 


A    FLATTERING    OFFER  409 

and  the  Indian  troubles  thereon,  which  now  were  getting 
rampant.  It  was  at  this  time  that,  knowing  my  pretty 
intimate  acquaintance  with  my  friends  the  Comanches 
arid  Lepans  and  their  ways,  he  consulted  me  a  good 
deal  about  the  establishment  of  frontier  posts,  the 
number  of  men  required  for  each,  etc. 

Of  course  I  was  glad  to  give  him  all  the  information 
in  my  power  ;  and  I  suppose  he  found  it  useful,  for,  to 
my  great  surprise,  he  one  day  offered  me  a  captain's 
commission  in  a  corps  he  contemplated  raising  locally 
for  frontier  service.  I  confess  I  was  much  flattered  by 
the  offer  and,  at  first,  almost  tempted  to  accept  it ; 
but  my  own  affairs  claimed  my  attention,  if  they  were 
not  to  go  to  rack  and  ruin.  Then,  to  take  service  under 
the  Federal  flag,  so  soon  after  our  debacle,  seemed 
almost  like  treachery  to  the  Southern  cause.  So,  after 
a  day's  consideration,  I  refused  the  offer  with  many 
thanks,  assuring  my  friend  that,  if  I  could  ever  render 
any  assistance  to  him  on  the  frontier,  my  services  were 
always  at  his  disposal.  So  we  parted  the  best  of  friends, 
and  I  went  off  to  my  ranch,  to  look  after  the  remnant 
of  my  cattle  left  me  by  the  Indians,  Mexican  raiders, 
and  other  thieves.  There  I  met  my  friend  the  General 
again,  for  he  put  up  with  me  a  couple  of  days  on  his 
way  up  country  to  visit  the  frontier  and  establish  his 
posts. 

When  he  left,  I,  at  his  urgent  request,  rode  with  him 
for  a  week,  and  acted  as  his  guide  over  the  country 
that  was  so  new  to  him  and  so  familiar  to  me,  and  we 
passed  through  the  district  along  the  Rio  Grande  which 
had  so  recently  been  the  happy  hunting-grounds  of 
the  Indian  marauders.  We  came  across  plenty  of 
deserted  and  ruined  ranches,  the  scalps  of  whose  owners 
were  then  probably  drying  in  some  Indian  camp,  but 
of  the  Indians  themselves  we  saw  nothing.  No  doubt 
they  had  heard  from  their  Mexican  spies  of  the  advent 
of  the  Federal  troopers,  and  had  made  themselves 


410      CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CAR1SA 

scarce  ;    anyway,  they  took  particular  care  not  to  show 
themselves. 

The  General  was  an  able  man,  and  a  capital  organiser  ; 
moreover  he  was  determined  to  establish  order  on  the 
wild  frontier  under  his  command  as  soon  as  might  be. 
To  this  end  he  devoted  an  untiring  energy,  and  spent 
the  best  part  of  his  first  year  in  Texas  in  the  saddle 
riding  round  his  posts,  and  keeping  every  one  on  the 
alert  and  up  to  their  duty.  The  result  was  that  by 
that  time  things  assumed  a  very  different  aspect.  Indian 
raids  were  not  of  course  entirely  put  down,  but  they 
became  comparatively  few  and  far  between,  so  that 
folks  who  were  not  too  "  scarey  "  could  sleep  in  some 
degree  of  peace,  even  in  a  lonely  ranch  away  out  in  the 
Rio  Grande  country. 

But,  at  the  time  I  am  writing  of,  my  friend's  Indian 
troubles  were  only  beginning,  whilst  my  own,  I  am 
happy  to  say,  were  nearly  over.  Only  one  more  narrow 
escape  did  I  have  of  losing  my  scalp  to  the  Comanches  ; 
but  it  was  "  touch  and  go  "  that  time,  and  I  got  one 
of  the  worst  scares  the  Indians  ever  gave  me.  It  hap 
pened  in  this  wise  : 

By  this  time  I  was  heartily  sick  of  Texas  and  its 
roughing,  and  was  longing  for  a  peep  of  the  "  Old 
Country  "  after  six  years'  absence  from  its  delights  : 
moreover,  there  was  a  special  attraction  that  drew  me 
thither  on  which  I  need  not  further  dilate.  But  un 
fortunately  I  had  found  ranching  in  wartime  was  not 
a  remunerative  business,  and,  to  put  it  plainly,  I  was 
very  short  of  hard  dollars.  Paper-money  I  had,  but  it 
was  by  this  time  almost  worthless,  and  the  wind  must 
be  raised  somehow. 

In  Texas  there  was  no  market  for  cattle,  and  no  hard 
cash  to  pay  for  them  ;  but  in  New  Orleans  it  was  different, 
for  reports  reached  us  that  the  demand  there  was  brisk 
and  the  price  good.  To  get  the  beeves  there  meant  a 
drive  of  over  seven  hundred  miles,  and,  after  that,  a 


A    WARM    RECEPTION  411 

steamboat  journey  some  three  days  in  length  ;  but  it 
was  my  only  resource,  and  I  determined  to  try  it. 

Cattle  fit  for  market  were  rather  scarce  on  the  ranch, 
and  to  make  up  my  number  I  set  to  work  to  collect  those 
that  Bacon's  man,  Blackaller,  had  turned  loose  on  the 
Carisa  Creek  the  previous  spring.  They  were  all  prime 
steers  when  that  rascal  had  taken  them,  and,  as  the 
pasture  on  the  creek  was  first-rate,  they  should  now  be 
in  tiptop  order,  if  only  I  could  find  them. 

So,  early  in  the  month  of  June,  with  five  vaqueros 
and  spare  horses,  and  fixed  up  for  a  month's  trip,  I 
started  one  lovely  morning  for  my  fifty-mile  ride  across 
the  open  prairie.  The  rains  had  freshened  all  nature  ; 
the  sun  shone  brightly,  and  the  flowering  cacti  and 
acacias,  then  in  fullest  bloom,  made  the  scene  one  of 
marvellous  beauty,  had  one  had  time  to  enjoy  it  all. 
But,  with  all  its  brightness,  the  weather  was  treacherous, 
and  we  must  push  on  if  we  were  to  reach  the  old 
"  Mustanger's  "  camp  at  the  head  of  the  creek  before 
nightfall. 

We  got  there  just  at  dark,  when  down  came  the  rain 
in  a  perfect  deluge,  which  didn't  cease  for  twenty-four 
hours.  This  was  bad  for  cattle-hunting,  making  the 
ground  deep  and  holding,  and  hard  on  the  horses.  But 
I  had  come  out  for  those  cattle,  and  meant  to  have  them 
if  they  could  be  found  ;  so  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  make  the  best  of  it.  The  day  after  the  rain  ceased 
I  rode  over  to  a  ranch  some  ten  miles  away  to  let  the 
owner,  with  whom  I  was  well  acquainted,  know  I  was  in 
the  country,  and  my  errand  there  ;  also  hoping  to  get 
some  help  from  him.  I  caught  sight  of  my  friend  near 
the  house,  but  the  moment  he  saw  me  he  bolted  indoors, 
and  presently  emerged  with  a  rifle  in  his  hand,  followed 
by  another  man,  also  armed.  Naturally  I  pulled  up  in 
some  surprise  at  my  reception,  but  soon  was  reassured, 
for  when  he  made  me  out,  my  host  shouted,  "  Come 
along,  and  hitch  your  horse  ;  darned  if  I  didn't  reckon 


412      CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CARISA 

it  was  some  one  else — mighty  glad  I  didn't  shoot  afore  I 
looked." 

"  Well,  anyway,"  I  said,  "  what's  the  fuss  ?  " 

Then  he  told  me  that  a  week  ago  he  had  had  a  row  with 
a  man  in  the  settlements,  and  had  shot  him,  and  was 
fully  expecting  a  visit  from  his  victim's  friends,  which 
was  only  natural.  After  a  short  stay  I  rode  back  to 
camp,  my  friend  promising  to  send  me  some  of  his 
vaqueros  the  next  day  to  help  in  the  hunt ;  for  himself 
he  intended  going  over  into  Mexico,  to  lie  low  for  a  few 
months,  when  his  little  affair  would  be  forgotten. 

All  that  day  my  hands  were  high  busy,  drying  our 
fixings,  which  had  got  pretty  well  drenched,  for  the  old 
camp  leaked  like  a  sieve.  The  following  morning  broke 
fine  and  clear,  and,  as  the  weather  seemed  more  settled, 
I  sent  the  hands  out  to  hunt  up  the  horses,  intending  to 
begin  work  in  the  afternoon.  As  soon  as  they  were  gone, 
I  strolled  down  to  the  creek  to  try  my  hand  at  fishing, 
and  presently  was  enjoying  first-rate  sport  in  a  deep 
reed-fringed  pool  a  few  hundred  yards  from  camp.  The 
water  was  in  splendid  condition  after  the  rain,  for  the 
flood  had  not  yet  come  down  from  the  mountain  sources 
of  the  stream  ;  the  fish  were  as  unsophisticated  as  fish 
could  be,  and  had  no  suspicion  that  my  bait  of  raw  beef 
covered  a  treacherous  hook ;  so,  though  I  am  no  "  fisher 
man  "  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word,  I  was  doing  as 
well  as  though  I  had  been  the  most  expert  angler. 

I  had  spent  an  hour  or  two  in  this  way,  and  began  to 
wonder  why  the  hands  were  so  long  gone,  when  suddenly 
I  heard  the  sound  of  horses'  feet  in  the  distance.  I 
rolled  up  my  line,  and  began  to  "  thread  "  my  pile  of 
fish  to  carry  them  back  to  camp,  and  then  the  horsemen, 
whoever  they  were,  were  close  at  hand. 

I  was  coming  up  the  sloping  bank,  through  the  reeds, 
which  were  not  quite  as  high  as  my  head,  and  indeed 
was  within  a  yard  or  two  of  the  open  ground,  when  it 
occurred  to  me  that  the  horses  coming  on  at  a  steady 


PRYING    EYES    AT   FAULT  413 

lope  didn't  sound  as  though  they  were  loose.  I  had  no 
idea,  not  the  remotest,  that  Indians  were  in  the  country, 
but  I  wasn't  taking  any  risk,  and,  as  the  thought  flashed 
into  my  mind,  threw  myself  down  in  the  covert.  Not 
an  instant  too  soon,  for,  as  I  peered  through  the  screen 
of  reeds,  which  barely  hid  me,  I  saw,  to  my  horror,  a 
band  of  a  dozen  Comanches  ride  up,  driving  before  them 
two  of  my  best  saddle-horses. 

I  frankly  confess  I  never  was  in  a  bluer  funk  in  all  my 
life,  and,  when  the  whole  party  suddenly  pulled  up  just 
opposite  me,  not  twenty  yards  away,  I  made  sure  my  last 
hour  had  come  ;  for  I  had  only  my  six-shooter  on  me, 
my  rifle  was  in  camp,  and  I  had  no  chance  for  my  life. 

Their  sharp  ears  had  heard  the  rustle  of  the  reeds  as 
I  threw  myself  down.  Great  heavens  !  would  they 
search  for  the  cause  ?  I  neither  stirred  nor  breathed, 
but  lay  flat  on  the  ground,  watching  every  movement 
of  my  deadly  foes. 

The  leader  of  the  band  rode  up  to  the  edge  of  the  reeds, 
but  fortunately  a  little  to  my  right,  and  peered  into  them. 
"  Surely  he  will  see  me,"  I  thought,  "for  the  brute  has 
eyes  like  a  cat !  "  But  he  didn't. 

Presently,  though  to  me  it  seemed  an  eternity,  he 
wheeled  his  pony  round,  saying  in  Spanish,  "  Son  Java- 
lines  "  ("  they  are  peccary.") 

"  Pienso  que  si,"  said  another  ("I  think  so  "),  and 
away  they  all  rode. 

I  have  had  many  narrow  escapes  of  my  life  amongst 
Indians,  and  folks  even  wilder  perhaps  than  they  are, 
but  that  I  think  was  the  narrowest  of  all,  for  two  yards 
of  reeds  only  divided  me  from  death  by  torture. 

When  I  crawled  out  of  my  hiding-place,  ten  minutes 
later,  the  Indians  had  disappeared,  and  I  went  back  to 
camp  to  wait  for  my  vaqueros.  In  half  an  hour  they 
turned  up,  having  been  kept  so  long  looking  for  the  two 
horses  we  should  probably  never  see  again,  though  I 
meant  to  have  a  try  for  them.  They  had  seen  nothing 


414      CATTLE-HUNTING    ON    THE    CARISA 

of  the  Indians,  or  their  trail,  for  the  two  stolen  horses 
were  "  half -breeds,"  and  had  strayed  away  from  the 
rest,  and  being  hobbled  had  been  easily  caught.  It  was 
bad  luck  to  lose  two  good  horses  like  that,  but  I  was 
fortunate  not  to  have  lost  the  lot,  my  vaqueros,  and  my 
own  life  as  well. 

What  befell  on  the  rest  of  the  trip,  and  what  the 
Indians  did  after  they  left  me,  must,  however,  be  reserved 
for  another  chapter  ;  and  that  will  be  the  last  I  shall 
write  of  Indian  "  doings." 


CHAPTER    III 

THE    "  PRAIRIE   SCHOONER  "   ON   THE   HILL 

THERE  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  if  we  were  to  catch  up 
with  the  Indians  and  recover  my  horses  ;  so  I  at  once 
sent  one  Mexican  over  to  my  ranch,  to  warn  the  boys 
to  turn  out  and  be  ready  with  fresh  horses,  and  another 
with  a  note  to  my  friend  with  the  little  difficulty  in  the 
settlements.  In  this  I  told  him  what  had  happened, 
and  asked  him  to  follow  the  trail  with  all  the  boys  he 
could  muster,  and  I  would  meet  him,  with  my  party,  on 
the  Presidio  road  that  evening. 

Though  we  pushed  on  all  we  knew,  it  was  late  after 
noon  before  the  three  Mexicans  and  I  reached  the  ranch, 
and  then  I  found  that  the  presence  of  Indians  in  the 
country  was  known  before  my  messenger  arrived,  and 
that  my  friends  Lem  Brown  and  Jack  Vinton,  reinforced 
by  three  boys  from  the  neighbourhood,  and  taking  four 
Mexicans  with  them,  had  already  started  to  follow  the 
trail.  There  was  nothing  for  it  then  but  to  go  after 
them  as  soon  as  might  be  ;  so  as  soon  as  fresh  horses  were 
caught  and  a  hasty  meal  was  eaten,  we  were  in  the 
saddle  again,  steering  across  the  deep  prairie  by  the 
guidance  of  the  stars,  for  the  old  Presidio  road,  near 
which  I  hoped  to  cut  the  trail.  Near  midnight  we  struck 
the  road,  and  presently  came  to  the  rendezvous,  where 
I  found  my  friend  and  three  others,  he  having  kindly 
deferred  his  trip  across  the  Rio  Grande  to  give  me  a 
helping  hand. 

When,  after  a,  few  hours'  rest,  we  hit  the  trail,  soon 
after  daybreak,  it  was  plain  to  see  we  had  a  big  job  on 

415 


416  THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

hand,  for  it  showed  us  we  were  following  between  forty 
and  fifty  Comanches,  who  were  heading  on  a  bee  line  for 
the  Rio  Grande,  driving  a  big  bunch  of  horses  before 
them.  Soon  we  struck  the  camp  of  my  friends  from 
my  ranch,  and,  topping  a  rise  on  the  prairie,  saw  them 
in  the  far  distance,  cutting  along  at  a  pace  which  it  was 
quite  evident  couldn't  last  in  that  deep  ground.  In 
about  an  hour  we  overhauled  them,  their  horses  being 
pretty  well  done  up,  and  then  held  a  council  of  war. 

Lem  Brown  and  his  party  from  the  ranch  were  not 
in  much  condition  to  hunt  Indians,  they  having  foolishly 
pumped  out  their  horses.  All  told,  we  were  only  ten 
white  men  and  seven  "  greasers  "  against  forty  or  fifty 
Indians,  who  had  got  into  the  difficult  country  bordering 
the  Rio  Grande.  I  was  very  reluctant  to  turn  back,  for 
I  had  a  strong  hankering  after  the  sight  of  those  two 
stolen  horses  of  mine  ;  moreover,  I  had  heard  at  the 
ranch  that  a  wagon,  laden  with  goods  for  Mexico,  had 
passed  two  days  before,  and,  as  its  route  lay  by  the 
Presidio  road,  there  was  great  risk  the  Comanches  might 
come  across  it.  If  that  happened,  God  help  the  owner, 
his  son,  and  the  two  men  with  them  ! 

The  majority,  however,  voted  for  returning,  saying 
it  was  useless  to  follow  any  farther  ;  and  as  for  the  folks 
in  the  wagon,  if  the  Indians  had  caught  them,  they 
would  be  past  help  by  that  time,  and  would  be  dead 
and  scalped.  So  we  turned  back  and  separated ;  I 
going  off  to  my  camp  on  the  Carisa,  with  my  Mexicans 
and  Lem,  who  said  he  would  come  with  me,  the  rest 
going  their  various  ways. 

If  only  we  had  held  on  another  half-dozen  miles  we 
should  have  spared  one  poor  human  being  a  day  and 
night  of  terror  and  agony,  and  ourselves  a  long  and 
wearisome  ride  !  But  it  was  not  to  be. 

That  night  I  got  into  camp  quite  late,  and  found  the 
one  Mexican  I  had  left  behind  mighty  glad  to  see  us, 
though  he  said  everything  had  been  quiet.  Next  morning 


YOUNG  NORMAN'S  STORY       417 

early  we  were  all  starting  out  to  hunt  up  those  blessed 
cattle,  when  a  messenger  named  Bell  arrived  from  my 
ranch  with  the  news  that  a  poor  young  fellow  had  turned 
up  there  the  previous  afternoon,  sorely  wounded  by  the 
Indians,  who  had  found  and  attacked  the  traders'  wagon. 
Weak  and  exhausted  from  loss  of  blood,  shoeless  and 
almost  naked,  he  had  crawled  in  in  a  terrible  plight,  and 
this  was  the  story  he  had  told  : 

His  father,  whose  name  was  Norman,  a  trader  from 
Eastern  Texas,  making  his  way  into  Mexico  with  a 
heavy  load  of  goods,  had  camped  just  off  the  road  a  few 
miles  ahead  of  where  we  had  halted  the  previous  day. 
They  had  turned  out  their  eight  yoke  of  cattle,  and, 
having  finished  supper,  the  whole  party  were  sitting 
round  the  camp  fire,  which,  as  they  had  no  suspicion 
that  Indians  were  in  the  country,  was  blazing  cheerfully. 
Suddenly  and  stealthily  the  Comanches  crept  on  them, 
and,  as  they  sat  round  chatting  and  smoking  in  the 
bright  firelight,  poured  a  deadly  volley  of  arrows  into 
them.  The  father  and  one  of  the  hands  fell  dead  at 
once,  but  young  Norman  and  a  man  named  Lee,  though 
badly  wounded,  jumped  to  their  feet  and  ran  off  into  the 
darkness,  pursued  by  the  yelling  savages. 

How  he  escaped  he  didn't  know,  but  he  bolted  through 
the  thick  cactus  growth,  regardless  of  the  awful  prickles, 
for  dear  life,  and  at  last  lay  down  under  one  of  the  great 
plants,  and  there  remained  till  all  was  quiet.  In  his 
hiding-place  he  could  hear  the  Indians  searching  for  him, 
occasionally  coming  quite  close  to  where  he  lay.  Once 
he  made  sure  his  last  hour  had  come,  for  an  Indian 
stopped  on  the  other  side  of  his  covert  and  thrust  his 
lance  under  it,  the  point  just  grazing  his  leg  ;  but  he 
neither  moved  nor  cried  out,  and  the  prying  savage 
passed  on.  He  thought  the  man  Lee  might  still  be 
alive,  for  he  had  run  with  him  some  distance,  and,  like 
himself,  might  have  found  a  safe  hiding-place. 

Such  was  the  young  fellow's  story,  and  of  course  there 

27 


418   THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

was  nothing  for  it  but  to  postpone  the  cattle-hunt  again, 
for  the  unfortunate  man  Lee  must  be  rescued,  if  yet 
alive,  the  remains  of  the  property  secured,  and  the  dead 
men  buried. 

The  messenger  brought  word  that  Jack  Vinton,  and 
the  other  boys  at  the  ranch,  would  meet  me  on  the 
Presidio  road  that  afternoon,  at  the  place  we  had  turned 
back  from  so  unfortunately  the  day  before.  The  horses 
were  already  saddled,  and  our  other  preparations  were 
soon  finished,  so  that  in  less  than  half  an  hour  from  young 
Bell's  arrival,  he,  on  a  fresh  horse,  and  Lem,  the  three 
Mexicans,  and  myself  were  off  for  the  old  Presidio  road 
once  more.  We  met  the  rest  of  the  boys  as  the  sun  was 
falling  low  in  a  cloudless  sky,  shining  brilliantly  on  the 
level  plain  of  the  prairie,  covered  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  with  the  golden  yellow  of  the  dwarf  cacti  in  full 
bloom.  A  scene  of  peace  and  of  beauty  indeed  ;  but 
we  pressed  on  unheeding,  for  we  had  other  business  to 
attend  to  that  brooked  no  delay. 

Soon,  as  we  topped  a  gentle  rise  on  the  prairie,  we  saw 
what  we  were  in  search  of — the  great  tilted  wagon,  or 
"  prairie  schooner,"  standing  in  solitude  on  a  low  hill 
hard  by  the  Las  Olmas  Creek.  No  smoke  rose  from  the 
camp  fire,  and,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  no  other 
token  of  human  presence  was  visible,  save  only  the 
wagon.  The  Indians  had  done  their  murderous  work, 
and  had  gone,  leaving  their  mutilated  victims  to  the 
coyotes  and  the  buzzards. 

But  Lee  might  be  alive,  though  I  hadn't  much  hope 
of  it  ;  so,  whilst  the  rest  of  us  rode  forward  in  open 
order,  and  with  rifles  unslung,  as  a  precaution  against 
an  Indian  ambush,  I  sent  three  of  the  boys  and  the 
same  number  of  Mexicans  away  to  the  right  to  search 
the  cactus  growth.  Presently  a  shout  from  one  of  the 
former  and  a  frantic  waving  of  his  hat  told  us  the 
wounded  man  was  found.  He  lay  hidden  under  the 
drooping,  spiked  leaves  of  a  great  yucca,  and  might 


IN   DESPERATE    PLIGHT  419 

never  have  been  discovered  but  that  he  had  just  strength 
enough  left  to  raise  a  feeble  cry  when  he  caught  sight 
of  the  boys. 

He  had  been  struck  by  several  arrows,  all  of  which, 
except  one  in  the  shoulder,  he  had  managed  to  pull  out, 
but  that  was  beyond  his  reach.  I  thought  he  was  dead, 
poor  fellow,  but  a  little  aguadiente  from  one  of  the  boys' 
flasks  revived  him,  and  then  we  carried  him,  as  gently 
as  we  could,  in  a  blanket  litter  to  the  wagon.  There 
a  sight  met  our  eyes  little  calculated  to  soften  the  heart 
of  a  frontiersman  towards  "  the  poor  Indian."  Close 
to  the  cold  ashes  of  their  fire,  where  they  had  been  so 
treacherously  surprised,  lay  the  lifeless  bodies  of  the 
unfortunate  men,  scalped  and  mutilated  in  nameless 
fashion,  and  turned  face  downwards  on  the  ground. 

From  the  sign  we  could  read  so  plainly,  it  was  clear 
enough  both  had  been  killed  outright  where  they  sat ; 
so  far  they  were  fortunate,  for  thus  they  escaped  the 
tortures  of  these  fiends  in  human  shape,  who  luckily 
could  only  disport  themselves  with  the  poor  dead  bodies. 

We  were  near  the  crossing  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
the  light  was  failing  rapidly,  but  so  moved  were  we  by 
the  thirst  for  vengeance  that,  leaving  one  Mexican  to 
look  after  Lee,  we  all  set  off  at  a  lope  on  the  broad  trail, 
in  the  faint  hope  that  we  might  overtake  these  wretches. 
We  didn't  stop  to  think,  or  we  might  have  known  it  was 
useless  to  do  so,  as  indeed  it  was  ;  for  after  riding  on  it 
best  part  of  an  hour,  it  took  us  over  the  river,  and  there 
we  had  to  turn  back. 

Next  morning  Lee  had  somewhat  revived,  and  it 
seemed  possible  he  might  recover,  though  he  was  in  a 
desperate  plight  from  his  neglected  wounds  and  loss  of 
blood,  so  we  resolved  to  get  him  to  the  ranch  as  soon  as 
possible. 

We  found  two  yoke  of  cattle  ;  the  rest  had  been  killed 
by  the  Indians  for  their  marrow-bones,  delicacies  so 
highly  esteemed  by  them  that  they  will  often  kill  quite 


420  THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

a  number  (belonging  to  other  people)  and  leave  all  the 
meat  for  the  coyotes.  We  packed  such  of  the  goods 
as  the  Indians  had  left,  which  was  not  a  great  quantity, 
into  the  wagon,  making  as  comfortable  a  bed  as  we 
could  for  the  wounded  man,  and  taking  the  two  bodies 
with  us,  set  off  for  my  place.  Slow  and  tiresome  was 
the  journey,  and  often  we  had  to  hitch  our  horses  on 
to  the  wagon  by  the  lariats,  to  help  it  over  the  deep 
ground  ;  but  by  midnight  we  arrived,  and  handed  over 
our  patient  to  the  care  of  Pepa,  my  very  wise  old  Mexican 
woman,  who,  with  her  simples  and  her  herbs,  was  a 
wonderful  mistress  of  the  healing  art.  At  any  rate 
she  managed  to  cure  both  Lee  and  young  Norman, 
both  pretty  bad  cases  ;  so  that  in  about  a  month's  time 
they  could  crawl  round  again,  and  presently  seemed 
little  the  worse  for  their  terrible  adventures. 

At  sunrise  next  day  we  laid  the  two  murdered  men 
to  rest  in  rough  shells,  under  the  spreading  shade  of  a 
great  live-oak,  hard  by  the  graves  of  two  of  my  vaqueros, 
recently  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  then  I  set  off  once 
more  to  resume  the  interrupted  cattle-hunt.  This  time 
I  had  altogether  ten  hands  with  me — i.e.  Lem  Brown 
and  nine  vaqueros  ;  the  latter  all  first-class  cattle-men, 
as  so  many  of  these  Mexicans  are,  and  more  at  home 
in  the  saddle  than  anywhere  else. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  class  of  animals  they  ride,  mostly 
wild,  half-broken  horses,  and  the  wonderful  way  they 
manage  them,  I  think  they  are,  take  them  for  all  in  all, 
the  finest  horsemen  I  ever  saw.  I  don't  mean  they  are 
finished  masters  of  the  art,  as  understood  in  this  country, 
but  for  cutting  out  a  steer  from  a  bunch  of  wild  cattle, 
turning  and  twisting  like  cats  in  the  doing  of  it,  or 
"  roping  "  a  charging  "  beef,"  they  are,  I  believe, 
unrivalled. 

I  don't  think  I  have  described  the  way  we  worked  a 
cattle-drive  like  this  before,  so  perhaps  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  give  some  description  of  it.  As  we  were  many 


THROWING    A    STEER  421 

miles  away  from  my  corrals,  we  had  to  drive  pretty 
well  all  the  cattle  we  found  towards  the  ranch,  and 
there  separate  my  own  brand  from  others,  for  of  course 
in  an  entirely  open  country  like  that  they  get  a  good 
deal  mixed  up. 

Beginning  about  twelve  miles  down  country  from 
camp,  we  found  the  first  herd  on  the  prairie,  not  very 
far  from  the  thick  chaparral  that  lines  the  creek,  and 
from  which  of  course  we  had  to  do  all  we  knew  to  keep 
them  out.  Flanking  out  on  either  side  at  a  gallop, 
we  soon  had  the  most  of  them  under  control,  but  every 
now  and  then  some  of  the  wildest  and  fastest  cattle 
would  make  a  dash  for  the  bush  and  liberty.  Then 
was  the  time  to  watch  the  doings  of  the  vaqueros  ;  turn 
and  twist  and  charge  as  the  steer  might,  the  Mexicans 
were  generally  too  quick  for  the  runaway,  if  he  hadn't 
too  much  of  a  start,  and  back  he  had  to  come,  reluctant, 
to  the  herd. 

They  didn't  often  use  their  lariats,  but  sometimes, 
when  a  steer  couldn't  be  headed  off  without  it,  they 
would  rope  him  on  the  very  edge  of  the  chaparral. 
Out  shot  the  raw-hide  like  lightning,  over  the  horns 
went  the  noose,  and,  before  he  knew  what  had  befallen 
him,  the  galloping  steer  was  thrown  heavily  on  to  his 
side  by  a  sudden  dexterous  twist  to  right  or  left  of  the 
active  little  cattle-horse,  and  there  he  lay  sprawling 
with  all  the  wind,  and  most  of  the  fight,  knocked  out  of 
him.  For  the  time  being  he  would  be  submissive  enough, 
and  could  generally  be  driven  back  to  the  herd  without 
much  difficulty. 

At  the  season  of  the  year  in  which  we  were  working 
cattle  congregate  very  much  in  the  chaparral  along  the 
creek-sides,  since  the  mosquitoes  are  not  numerous 
enough  to  drive  them  out  into  the  open.  A  month  or 
two  later  these  pests,  which  love  the  shelter  of  the  trees, 
swarm  in  such  incalculable  numbers,  and  are  so  vicious 
in  their  attacks,  that  even  the  tough  hides  of  the  cattle 


422  THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

fail  to  protect  them,  and  out  they  must  come  on  to  the 
prairies.  We  were,  therefore,  very  lucky  in  our  first 
drive  to  find  so  many  beeves  out  in  the  open,  for  hunting 
in  the  chaparral  is  quite  a  different  matter,  and  is  about 
the  hardest  work  man  and  horse  can  do. 

Having  then  got  our  first  herd  pretty  well  under 
control,  we  left  four  of  the  vaqueros  to  keep  it  moving 
slowly  along,  whilst  the  rest  of  us  went  off  to  hunt  up 
more  cattle  to  drive  to  it.  By  noon  we  had  collected 
a  good  bunch  of  about  two  hundred  head,  though  of 
course  a  great  many  of  these  were  not  my  own,  and  of 
those  that  were  mine,  only  comparatively  a  few  be 
longed  to  the  wild  lot  I  was  after.  Now,  coming  to  a 
good  water-hole,  shaded  by  hackberry- trees,  laden  with 
ripe  fruit,  we  called  a  halt,  stripped  the  horses  for  an 
hour's  grass,  and  refreshed  ourselves  on  dried  beef, 
bread  and  coffee,  the  usual  prairie  fare,  which  is  not 
half  bad,  when  eaten  with  the  best  of  sauces. 

Working  again  in  the  afternoon  for  an  hour  or  so, 
we  got  another  fifty  head  ;  and  then  came  the  "  cutting 
out"—  i.e.  the  separating  from  the  herd  of  those  we 
wanted  to  drive  to  the  ranch,  the  remainder  being  let 
go  to  wander  away  at  their  own  sweet  will.  It  is 
wonderful  how  they  all  hang  together  when  you  want 
to  separate  them,  but  at  last  by  the  free  use  of  the  lariats 
and  by  dint  of  much  hard  riding,  we  had  singled  out 
some  forty  head  of  first-class  beeves,  in  which  were 
included  twenty-five  of  the  Carisa  Creek  cattle.  All 
these  I  dispatched  to  the  ranch  corrals,  under  charge 
of  three  vaqueros,  and  the  rest  of  us  turned  back  to 
camp,  to  be  ready  for  another  day's  drive  on  the  morrow. 

The  night  was  dry  and  warm,  so  after  a  supper,  after 
the  pattern  of  the  midday  meal,  washed  down  by  strong 
black  coffee,  we  were  all  presently  stretched  on  our 
blankets,  under  the  star-lit  canopy  of  heaven,  and  slept 
the  sleep  of  the  weary,  lulled  by  the  night  sounds  that 
are  so  plaintive  and  so  weird  in  those  vast  solitudes. 


VOICES    OF   THE    NIGHT  423 

Not  that  I  for  one  wanted  much  lulling  that  night  ;  but 
often  when  camping  out  by  myself  on  the  prairies,  miles 
from  any  human  being,  I  have  listened  long  to  the  voices 
of  the  night,  which  one  soons  learns  to  recognise.  They 
give  confidence,  and  a  sense  of  security  too,  to  the  lonely 
watcher,  for  where  they  are  heard  there  is  but  little  fear 
of  prowling  foes  ;  when  silence  falls  upon  them,  it  is 
time  to  be  on  the  alert,  if  you  are  in  an  Indian  country 
especially. 

The  great  bullfrogs,  recently  aroused  from  their 
dry-weather  slumbers  in  the  mud  of  a  water-hole  by 
the  coming  of  the  rains,  commence  the  concert  with  a 
vigour  all  their  own,  which  is  somewhat  disconcerting 
at  close  range,  but  heard  afar  off  is  soothing,  and  not 
unmusical.  When  the  deepening  dusk  veils  all  but  your 
immediate  surroundings,  come  the  night- jars  on  noiseless 
wings,  wheeling,  circling,  poising,  close  overhead,  till 
their  feathers  almost  brush  your  upturned  face — "  mos 
quito-hawks  "  the  natives  call  them  ;  and  all  night  long 
they  are  busy  swallowing  wholesale  these  and  other 
flying  enemies  of  poor  humanity. 

Now  as  the  last  gleam  of  light  dies  in  the  western  sky, 
the  dwarf  owls  from  the  neighbouring  clumps  of  live- 
oaks  begin  their  ceaseless  queries  of  ''  Who 're  you, 
who're  you  ?  "  in  low  tones,  "  most  musical,  most 
melancholy." 

Afar  off,  in  the  chaparral  by  the  creek,  the  great 
green  cicadae,  as  large  as  locusts,  begin  to  drum  their 
wings,  with  shrill  whistling  ;  whilst  their  small  cousins 
the  little  brown  grasshoppers  in  the  herbage  all  around 
utter  their  insistent  "  Hist !  hist !  "  below  their  breath, 
like  some  stage  villain  in  a  minor  theatre.  Of  sounds 
not  quite  so  pleasant  as  these  is  the  curious  lowing  cry 
of  the  solitary  bittern,  bewailing  the  scarcity  of  fish, 
as  he  stands  knee-deep  in  the  shallows  of  the  creek  ; 
and  you  rejoice  in  your  heart  of  hearts  that  he  is  not 
gregarious  in  his  habits. 


424  THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

Far  over  the  prairie  comes  the  baying  of  the  great 
grey  wolves  and  the  barking  of  the  coyotes,  hunting 
the  deer  and  antelope,  or  possibly  your  own  cattle,  to 
try  and  cut  out  some  of  the  calves.  These  are  voices 
of  the  night  that  startle  you  at  times  from  your  slumbers  ; 
as  when  once  a  small  pack  of  big  "  lobos  "  came  driving 
close  past  my  solitary  camp  in  hot  pursuit  of  their  prey. 
So  near  they  came  that,  as  I  sat  up  half  dazed  with 
sleep  and  fumbled  for  my  six-shooter,  not  well  knowing 
what  the  rushing  sound  might  mean,  I  saw  their  misty 
forms  dart  by,  and  heard  the  patter  of  their  many  feet 
and  the  snapping  of  their  hungry  jaws  as  they  ran  their 
quarry  in  view  ;  but  so  swiftly  did  the  chase  pass  by 
that,  before  I  could  shoot,  it  had  vanished  into  the 
darkness  of  the  night. 

But  this  night  no  lulling  of  soft  voices  was  necessary 
to  induce  sleep,  nor  could  any  harsh  ones  break  it ;  we 
were  all  too  tired  for  that,  though  an  hour  or  so  before 
day  we  were  astir  again,  cooking  breakfast  and  boiling 
coffee,  preparatory  to  an  early  start  ;  for  that  day  we 
were  going  to  hunt  the  chaparral,  and  had  all  our  work 
cut  out.  There  I  felt  sure  of  rinding  more  of  my  wild 
cattle  than  in  the  open,  and  was  not  disappointed. 

Riding  down  the  creek-side  some  miles  before  we 
commenced,  we  drove  back  towards  camp.  At  that  spot 
the  chaparral  was  about  half  a  mile  wide,  so  we  formed 
line  with  the  inner  flank  thrown  forward  very  consider 
ably,  so  as  gradually  to  edge  the  cattle  out  into  the 
open. 

But  first  I  must  try  to  give  some  idea  of  what  chaparral 
is  like,  before  I  describe  the  driving.  The  main  growth 
is  "  mesquite,"  a  bushy,  low  tree  bearing  a  plentiful 
crop  of  pods,  of  which  cattle  and  other  animals  are  very 
fond.  The  loftier  timber  is  live-oak  and  cedar  ;  and 
the  undergrowth  of  hackberry  and  other  bushes,  mostly 
provided  with  a  full  armament  of  thorns,  is  very  dense. 
Everywhere  through  this  run  the  prickly  and  tiger- 


DRIVING    IN   THE    CHAPARRAL  425 

claw  bamboos,  and  often  the  vines,  that  cling  and 
climb  to  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees,  make  an  almost 
impenetrable  network.  Here  and  there  in  this  thick 
scrub  are  to  be  found  grassy  open  glades,  but  never  of 
any  great  width. 

The  line  advances  with  much  shouting  and  hallooing, 
in  fact  with  all  the  noise  that  a  dozen  able-bodied  human 
beings  can  raise,  and  presently  a  bunch  of  cattle  is  started. 
The  din  increases.  Crash  !  bang  !  through  the  under 
growth  go  the  beasts  at  a  surprising  pace,  and  after  them 
we  scramble  and  stumble,  as  best  we  may.  The  inner 
flank  man  fires  his  six-shooter  now  and  then  to  tell  his 
position,  and  the  rest  follow  in  such  order  as  they  can, 
keeping  a  sharp-look  out  for  back-breaking  steers. 

Across  an  open  glade  scuttles  a  bunch  of  peccary,  with 
much  grunting  and  snapping  of  tusks  ;  and  a  loud  and 
angry  gobbling  tells  you  that  you  have  disturbed  an 
ancient  turkey  and  his  harem  at  their  early  breakfast 
of  hackberries. 

These  flutter  off,  or  take  wing  across  the  creek,  and  are 
no  more  seen  ;  and  then  perhaps  you  catch  a  fleeting 
glimpse  of  the  brown-red  coat  of  a  deer,  or  antelope,  as  he 
steals  on  before  the  drive.  But  all  these,  and  many  other 
ferce  naturce  we  put  up,  are  all  unheeded,  for  we  have 
as  much  as  we  can  do  to  keep  the  cattle  ahead  of  us. 

This  scrambling  racket  goes  on  for  half  an  hour,  perhaps 
an  hour,  and  when  at  last  we  emerge  into  the  open,  with 
torn  hands  and  faces,  and  clothes  rather  the  worse  for 
wear,  we  are  lucky  if  we  have  a  dozen  or  so  cattle  in  front 
of  us.  No  time  is  there  for  rest,  or  even  for  taking 
breath,  for  the  steers  we  have  got  must  be  hustled  and 
bustled  far  out  on  to  the  open  prairie,  or  they  will  break 
back  into  covert  again  to  a  certainty.  There  they  are 
left  in  charge  of  a  vaquero,  and  the  rest  of  us  go  back 
for  another  drive. 

The  hunt  went  on,  with  varying  success,  for  eight 
days  longer,  by  which  time  both  men  and  horses  were 


426    THE  "  PRAIRIE  SCHOONER  "  ON  THE  HILL 

pretty  well  done  up.  I  was  fairly  satisfied  with  the 
result,  for  I  had  250  prime  steers,  mostly  from  four  to  five 
years  old,  safely  penned  in  the  corrals. 

At  the  ranch  I  found  a  messenger  from  Don  Immanuel 
Garcia,  Alcalde  of  the  little  Mexican  town  of  San  Juan,  a 
couple  of  days'  ride  across  the  Rio  Grande,  with  whom 
I  had  had  previous  dealings  in  the  cattle  line.  He  sent 
word  that,  owing  to  the  war,  there  was  a  brisk  demand 
for  beeves,  and  that  he  could  take  fifty  or  a  hundred,  at 
a  good  price,  if  I  had  them  to  sell. 

It  was  a  tempting  offer,  so  instead  of  starting  at  once 
on  my  long  drive  to  New  Orleans,  I  took  the  smaller  num 
ber  across  the  river,  with  what  result  I  must  tell  in  another 
chapter. 


CHAPTER    IV 

CATTLE-DEALING   IN   MEXICO 

THE  Rio  Grande  is  a  turbulent  stream  when  the  snows 
melt  in  the  Sierras  at  its  sources,  and  is  then  quite  de 
serving  of  the  name  the  Mexicans  have  given  it,  "  El  Rio 
Bravo,"  or  "  fierce  river."  But,  by  the  way,  how  charac 
teristic  of  their  nature  is  that  little  word  !  "  Bravo  " 
means  brave,  or  angry,  or  fierce  ;  cool  courage  with  them, 
as  indeed  with  most  of  the  South- American  Spanish  races, 
is  not  common. 

The  river  was  sufficiently  "  bravo  "  when  we  reached 
it  with  my  little  drove  ;  running  strong  and  brown  between 
its  shelving  banks  at  the  "  crossing."  It  took  some  time 
to  force  the  cattle  into  the  stream  ;  but  once  the  plunge 
was  taken,  they  were  soon  over,  for  they  are  wonderful 
swimmers,  and  fortunately  not  easy  to  drown. 

The  country  on  the  other  side  is  much  like  Texas,  but 
more  thickly  populated,  the  people  living  either  in  small 
"  pueblos,"  or  villages,  or  round  some  large  "  hacienda," 
or  farm,  in  patriarchal  fashion.  The  climate  is  so  dry 
that  not  much  cultivation  is  carried  on,  and  that  only  by 
the  aid  of  irrigation,  which  is  very  primitive  in  character. 
The  farms  therefore  are  mostly  grazing,  and  produce  only 
enough  corn  for  the  wants  of  the  immediate  neighbour 
hood. 

I  am  writing  of  Mexico,  or  rather  the  small  part  of  it  I 
knew,  nearly  forty  years  ago,  and  wonderful  changes  have 
taken  place  since  then  under  the  strong,  but  beneficent, 
sway  of  that  born  ruler  of  men  Porfirio  Diaz.  In  those 
days  the  various  States  of  the  Republic,  separated  from 

427 


428  CATTLE-DEALING    IN    MEXICO 

the  seat  of  central  government  in  Mexico  City  by  hun 
dreds  of  miles,  without  railways  or  even  decent  roads 
to  connect  them,  were  bound  together  by  the  slenderest 
of  ties,  and  "  Pronunciamentos,"  headed  by  some  am 
bitious  General  or  Governor  of  a  State,  were  everyday 
occurrences. 

President  Diaz  was  elected  for  the  first  time  some 
thirty- one  years  ago,  and  is  now  serving  his  eighth 
term  of  office,  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  all  his  people. 
In  that  comparatively  short  time  he  has  evolved  order 
out  of  chaos  ;  has  opened  up  the  country  by  railways 
and  roads,  and  developed  its  marvellously  rich  natural 
resources  to  such  an  extent  that  to-day  Mexico  is  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  and  well-governed  countries  on  the 
continent,  while  its  credit  stands  high  on  the  bourses  of 
the  world.  To  have  done  all  this  in  any  country  in  the 
world  would  have  been  a  marvel ;  but  to  have  done  it  in 
Mexico,  and  to  have  so  changed  the  mixed  race  he  rules 
as  to  convert  it  to  industry  and  honesty  is  an  achievement 
almost  unique  in  the  history  of  humanity.  I  have  no 
doubt  his  all-pervading  influence  has  been  felt  even  in 
the  remote  States  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Coahuila,  on  the 
distant  Rio  Grande,  which  were  best 'known  to  myself 
in  the  days  of  which  I  write,  and  which  were  then  back 
ward  and  uncivilised  enough,  goodness  knows  ! 

Two  days'  drive,  over  a  dry,  desolate-looking  prairie, 
during  which  we  passed  two  pretty  large  ranches,  ap 
parently  devoted  to  the  raising  of  goats,  for  they  swarmed 
all  around  them,  brought  us  late  one  evening  to  the 
Pueblo  of  San  Juan,  and  a  more  poverty-stricken,  un 
inviting-looking  place  it  would  be  hard  to  conceive. 
Its  reputation  was  no  better  than  its  appearance,  for,  if 
not  sorely  maligned  by  rumour,  its  inhabitants  chiefly 
followed  the  ancient  and  honourable  occupation  of  horse 
and  cattle  stealing. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  their  own  neighbourhood  didn't 
supply  a  sufficiency  of  these  commodities,  they  mainly 


THE    PUEBLO    OF    SAN    JUAN  429 

exercised  their  talents  on  our  side  of  the  Rio  Grand6, 
with  much  profit  to  themselves :  of  course  if  they  were 
caught  it  was  a  case  of  a  short  shrift  and  a  quick  "  look 
up  "  a  live-oak.  We  "  Americanos  "  were  therefore  not  so 
popular  as  we  might  have  been  with  these  freebooters,  and, 
as  I  rode  up  the  dirty,  straggling  street,  the  "  greasers," 
seated  at  their  doors  enjoying  the  cool  of  the  evening  and 
the  never-failing"  cigarettas,"  cast  very  unfriendly  glances 
at  myself,  and  very  hungry  ones  at  my  fine  beeves.  But 
when  I  inquired  my  way  to  the  house  of  "  mi  amigo  Don 
Immanuel  el  Alcalde,"  a  change  came  over  them  at  once, 
and  half  a  dozen  jumped  up  to  show  me  the  way.  Don 
Immanuel  was  evidently  a  person  in  authority,  which 
was  so  far  satisfactory,  for,  though  I  of  course  went  well 
armed,  with  a  rifle  and  a  couple  of  six-shooters,  San  Juan 
was  not  a  healthy  place  for  an  "  Americano  "  to  venture 
into  alone.  Let  me  try  to  describe  it  as  it  then  was, 
and  perhaps  is  still,  in  that  outlying  country  ;  for  the 
Mexican  changes  but  slowly,  and  not  then  without  much 
pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  him. 

The  single  street,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  went  straggling 
up  a  rocky,  sun-scorched  slope,  one  of  the  low  foothills 
of  a  distant  range  of  mountains.  The  houses,  of  which 
there  might  be  twenty  or  thirty,  were  set  at  all  angles  : 
some  with  then:  fronts,  some  with  their  backs,  and  others 
with  their  ends  facing  the  street,  through  which  a  black 
and  evil-smelling  stream  of  sewage,  and  the  like  abomina 
tions,  slowly  trickled,  being  much  blocked  on  its  down 
ward  course  to  the  prairie  by  rocks  and  accumulations 
of  refuse.  Here  and  there  these  formed  sizable  pools, 
wherein  wallowed  the  black  pigs  of  the  pueblo,  which 
took  not  only  their  pastime  therein,  but  drew  most  of 
their  sustenance  thereout.  Except  for  a  brief  period  of 
their  existence,  when  they  were  penned  and  fed  on  maize, 
I  don't  think  they  got  any  other  food.  Certainly  they 
didn't  look  as  if  they  did,  for  they  more  resembled  half- 
starved  greyhounds  than  comfortable  English  porkers. 


430  CATTLE-DEALING    IN   MEXICO 

This  same  stream,  a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  pueblo, 
ran  clear  and  bright  from  its  limestone  source,  and 
might  have  supplied  the  inhabitants  with  excellent  drink 
ing  water  at  their  very  doors  ;  but  that  would  have  in 
volved  "  mucho  trabajo  " — too  much  trouble. 

Next  to  the  pigs,  which  pervaded  the  whole  place,  and 
the  fowls,  which  roosted  in  every  house,  the  most  numer 
ous  inhabitants  were  curs  of  every  degree,  and  in  every 
stage  of  starvation,  poor  wretches  !  I  don't  think 
there  is  any  living  thing  in  creation  so  hungry  as  a 
Mexican's  dog. 

Peep  into  one  of  the  houses,  which  are  all  much  like, 
only  that  some  are  perhaps  a  shade  less  dirty  than  others. 
The  walls  are  of  adobe,  or  sun-burned  clay,  and  the 
roofs  of  palmetto  thatch,  which  is  excellent  covering, 
except  that  it  harbours  hosts  of  insect  plagues.  The 
floor  is  of  beaten  clay,  hard  and  dry,  and  swarms  with 
"  pulgas  y  chinchas  "  —fleas  and  bugs,  which  perforce 
reside  there,  since  the  only  furniture  the  house  contains 
consists  of  two  or  three  low  wooden  stools,  a  rickety  table, 
and  hammocks  slung  to  the  rafters  for  sleeping  accom 
modation.  On  this  rickety  table,  set  against  the  wall, 
stands  the  "  Santo  "  ;  a  tawdry  little  image  of  the 
Virgin,  or  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  casa  set  in  a  glass 
case,  decked  with  gawdy-coloured  paper  flowers,  but  an 
object  of  much  reverence  to  the  owner,  who  always  doffs 
his  sombrero  to  it  on  entering,  usually  crossing  himself 
as  well. 

His  wife,  or  "  La  Senora,"  if  she  is  young,  will  probably 
be  good-looking,  with  large  dark  eyes  and  a  bright  com 
plexion,  which  alas  !  will  fade  so  soon,  in  her  life  of 
drudgery.  For  she  is  the  working  partner  in  the  firm, 
if  any  work  is  to  be  done,  except  cattle-tending  or  cattle- 
stealing,  and  these  her  lord  and  master  does.  She  rises  from 
her  knees  and,  in  reply  to  our  greeting,  gives  us  a  pleasant 
"  Buenos  tardes,  Sefior  !  "  She  was  hard  at  work  rubbing 
down  maize,  soaked  in  "  lye  "  to  soften  it,  on  a  grooved 


LA    SENORA    AND    HER    FAMILY         431 

stone  with  a  rolling-pin,  to  convert  it  into  paste  for  the 
"  tortillas."  These,  something  like  substantial  pancakes, 
are  excellent  when  eaten  hot,  but  when  cold  are  an 
abomination  to  any  self-respecting  stomach.  Hot  or 
cold  they  are  the  staple  of  every  Mexican's  diet ;  and  not 
only  are  they  eaten  themselves  but  are  also  used  in  lieu 
of  a  spoon,  to  scoop  up  soup  or  gravy,  or  any  such  trifle  ; 
and  very  handy  tools  too,  in  the  hands  of  an  expert,  they 
prove  to  be. 

While  La  Senora  is  busy,  as  we  have  described,  pre 
paring  the  family  meal,  the  "  family,"  probably  a  numer 
ous  one,  is  reclining  on  the  earthen  floor  in  every  stage 
of  dirt  and  semi-,  or  entire,  nakedness  ;  the  elder  children 
possibly  boasting  a  shirt  of  the  briefest,  but  the  younger 
being  clad  in  nature's  garb  alone.  La  Senora  herself  is 
apparently  not  overdressed,  for,  as  well  as  a  mere  man 
can  judge,  she  seems  only  to  wear  one  garment,  and 
that  a  loose,  long  cotton  gown,  ungirt  at  the  waist,  and 
reaching  nearly  to  her  shapely  ankles.  But  business 
must  not  be  interrupted  ;  so,  with  a  polite  "  adios  "  on 
both  sides,  we  depart. 

Don  Immanuel's  residence  is  somewhat  different  from 
the  rest,  for  the  worthy  Alcalde,  besides  dispensing 
justice,  keeps  the  only  "  venta,"  or  wayside  public-house, 
in  the  place.  There  he  sells  "  aguadiente,"  or  aniseed 
brandy,  which  fully  merits  its  equivalent  in  English  of 
"  fire-water,"  and  accommodates  passing  "  arrieros,"  or 
muleteers,  and  other  travellers,  if  such  rare  victims 
turn  up. 

The  Alcalde,  like  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants,  is  taking 
his  ease  in  his  hammock,  but  rises  at  our  approach  and, 
with  a  cordial  greeting,  bids  me  welcome  to  San  Juan. 
The  tired  horses  are  taken  to  water,  above  the  village,  and 
the  cattle  sent  with  one  of  his  vaqueros  to  the  same  pool, 
and  thence  to  my  host's  corral,  to  be  penned  for  the  night. 
'This  done  I  am  invited  to  enter  the  house,  with  that 
polite  phrase  which  sounds  so  pretty,  but  means  so  little, 


432  CATTLE-DEALING    IN    MEXICO 

though  invariably  used  in  Mexico,   "  La  casa  es   suya, 
Sefior  "  ("  the  house  is  yours,  sir  "). 

The  house,  in  this  particular  instance,  being  both 
venta  and  dwelling  combined,  is  a  low  one-storied 
building  about  one  hundred  feet  long,  with  the  usual 
earthen  floor.  Three-fourths  of  its  length  is  devoted  to 
the  accommodation  of  the  four-footed  guests,  and  the 
remainder,  the  floor  of  which  is  raised  about  a  foot 
above  the  other,  to  that  of  the  humans  ;  but  there  is 
no  partition  to  shut  off  the  stable  from  the  dwelling- 
place. 

At  the  far  end  of  the  stable  are  six  mules,  with  their 
packs  but  just  unloaded  resting  behind  them,  whilst  a 
hungry  and  inquisitive  black  pig  is  nuzzling  at  one  of 
them,  in  the  hope  that  perchance  it  may  contain  some 
thing  edible.  The  two  arrieros,  seated  on  low  stools  on 
either  side  of  a  little  table,  are  eating  their  frugal  supper 
of  "  gaspacho,"  or  soup  of  oil,  haricot  beans,  chili-peppers, 
pimentos,  and  pieces  of  black  bread,  on  which  mixture 
boiling  water  has  been  poured.  If  the  meal  is  not  ap 
petising  it  is  plentiful,  for  the  wooden  bowl  into  which 
each  man  dips  his  tortilla,  with  resolve  to  get  his  fair 
share,  is  nearly  full. 

With  Spanish  politeness  they  rise  to  greet  the  stranger, 
and  so  catch  sight  of  the  marauding  pig  investigating 
the  pack.  "  Maldito  sea  el  puerco  !  "  they  cry  with  one 
breath,  and  rush  to  the  rescue.  Away  goes  the  puerco 
with  screams  that  arouse  three  of  his  friends  reposing 
in  a  corner  hard  by,  and  the  hullabaloo  disturbs  all 
the  hens  who  had  gone  to  roost  on  the  rafters.  The 
racket  is  appalling  for  a  time,  but  presently  quiets  down 
and  all  is  peace  again  within. 

Outside,  however,  it  is  soon  renewed,  for  La  Seiiora, 
after  greetings  duly  given,  sallies  forth  with  some  of  her 
offspring,  on  the  hospitable  errand  of  getting  my  supper. 
"  El  polio,"  or  the  chicken,  destined  for  the  sacrifice 
runs  for  his  life,  with  vociferous  remonstrance,  in  which 


A    PLAGUE    OF    BOTH    YOUR    HOUSES!     433 

all  his  friends  and  relatives  join  ;  but  presently  is  bowled 
over  by  a  clever  shot  with  the  short  cudgel  La  Seiiora 
carries. 

With  surprising  rapidity  he  is  plucked,  split,  and 
grilled  to  a  turn  on  the  hot  embers,  and  served  up  with 
a  pile  of  steaming  tortillas,  making  a  most  excellent 
dish.  This  is  followed  by  a  bowl  of  "  huevos  y  tomati," 
or  in  plain  English,  "  scrambled  eggs,"  cunningly  mixed 
with  finely  chopped  tomatoes — a  first-rate  compound. 
The  supper  is  washed  down  with  an  abundance  of  good 
black  coffee.  Milk  of  course  there  is  none,  for,  though 
there  are  plenty  of  cows  about,  no  one  in  a  Mexican 
pueblo  would  dream  of  taking  the  trouble  to  catch 
and  milk  them.  Then  comes  the  aguadiente,  and  every 
body  lights  his,  or  her,  cigarette,  made  of  strong  native 
tobacco,  wrapped  in  "  mazourka,"  or  the  leaf  of  the 
maize-cob,  which  is  far  better  than  any  paper.  Lazily 
we  swing  in  our  respective  hammocks,  and  the  Alcalde 
and  I  open  the  deal  over  the  cattle  I  have  brought,  though 
without  any  hope,  or  expectation,  of  concluding  it  that 
night.  Lucky  if  we  can  fix  it  up  before  the  next 
evening  ! 

Mexico  was  in  those  days  in  the  throes  of  the  bitter 
struggle  between  the  Liberalistas,  or  Republicans,  under 
their  Dictator  Juarez,  and  the  unfortunate  Emperor 
Maximilian,  supported  for  a  time  by  French  bayonets. 
My  friend  Don  Immanuel  was  a  strong  Liberal,  but  was, 
from  his  own  account,  terribly  harried  by  each  side 
in  turn,  till  he  was  inclined  to  cry,  "  A  plague  of  both 
your  Houses  !  "  Only  a  few  days  ago,  he  said,  a  band 
of  Liberals  had  come  along  and  requisitioned  horses, 
arms,  and  cattle.  It  is  true  they  gave  him  a  receipt, 
which  he  regarded  as  of  very  doubtful  value  as  he  didn't 
suppose  for  a  moment  the  Government  would  ever 
acknowledge  it. 

Next  came  a  company  of  "  Los  Coutrarios,"  or 
Imperialists,  and  they  took  what  they  wanted,  without 

28 


434  CATTLE-DEALING    IN    MEXICO 

even  the  formality  of  a  receipt,  and  moreover  carried 
off  with  them  eight  of  his  peons  as  unwilling  recruits 
for  their  cause. 

As  long  as  I  could  keep  awake  I  listened  to  the  tale 
of  my  host's  wrongs,  but  at  last  weariness  overcame 
me,  and  I  slept ;  but  not  for  long.  My  foes  had  gathered 
thick  and  fast,  and  seemed  bent  on  eating  me  alive : 
whether  they  dropped  down  on  me  from  the  thatch 
overhead,  or  whether  they  crawled  down  the  hammock 
ropes,  I  know  not,  but,  when  I  struck  a  light,  my  hammock 
was  literally  swarming  with  hungry  "  chinchas,"  or 
bugs.  I  turned  the  hammock  over,  shook  out  my 
enemies,  and  squashed  as  many  as  I  could  on  the  floor, 
and  so  back  to  bed  again,  to  toss  and  turn  till  day 
break. 

At  the  first  gleam  of  light  the  whole  household  was 
astir,  and  whilst  the  early  morning  coffee  was  pre 
paring,  the  Alcalde  and  I  strolled  up  to  the  corrals 
to  see  to  the  cattle  and  horses.  Everything  was  all 
right,  and  we  were  on  the  point  of  returning,  when  up 
galloped  one  of  his  vaqueros  with  the  startling  news 
that  a  body  of  mounted  men,  some  thirty  strong,  had 
been  seen  about  two  miles  off,  and  were  evidently  making 
for  the  pueblo.  "  They'll  have  the  half  of  your  beeves, 
if  they're  Liberals,  and  the  whole  of  them  if  they  are 
'  Los  Coutrarios,'  amigo  mio,"  said  Don  Immanuel  ; 
"  but  we  will  see  if  we  can't  be  too  clever  for  them, 
malditos  ladrones  !  "  He  threw  down  the  corral  bars 
as  he  spoke  ;  out  bolted  the  cattle,  and  away  they 
went  as  hard  as  they  could  pelt,  with  two  of  my 
men  and  one  of  the  Alcalde's  at  their  heels,  making 
for  a  deep  ravine  a  little  way  off,  there,  it  was  to  be 
hoped,  to  lie  safely  hid  till  the  danger  was  overpast. 

Meantime  the  Alcalde  and  I  strolled  back  to  his  house, 
and  were  beginning  to  sip  our  coffee  on  the  piazza  in 
front  of  it,  when  we  were  aware  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Partido  in  the  village.  Down  the  stony  street  it  came 


UNWELCOME    GUESTS 


435 


clattering,  and,  heralded  by  squealing  pigs  and  yelping 
curs,  pulled  up  in  front  of  the  venta.  A  motley  crew 
enough  to  look  upon,  but  well  mounted  and  serviceable 
in  appearance,  all  being  armed  with  rifles  and  six-shooters. 
Uniform  there  was  none,  and  the  only  distinguishing 
marks  of  the  officer  in  command  were  the  feather  in 
his  sombrero  and  the  sword  dangling  by  his  side. 

There  was  nothing  to  indicate  whether  they  were 
Liberals,  and  so  possibly  friendly  with  mine  host,  or 
Los  Coutrarios  and  enemies,  and  I  was  deeply  pondering 
which  they  were  when,  to  my  great  relief,  Don  Immanuel 
jumped  up  and  greeted  the  commander  as  an  old  friend. 
Presently  he  was  introduced  to  me  as  Don  Manuel 
Gutierrez,  a  well-known  Republican  leader,  who  had 
earned  for  himself  a  somewhat  evil  reputation  amongst 
the  Imperialists  by  his  ruthless  deeds,  and  whose  fame 
had  even  crossed  the  Rio  Grande.  To  all  appearance 
he  was  "  as  mild  a  mannered  man  as  ever  cut  a  throat," 
and  we  soon  became  quite  friendly.  He  was  informed 
by  Don  Immanuel  that  I  was  a  ranchero  from  across 
the  river,  come  to  see  if  there  was  any  market  for  cattle 
in  Mexico,  as  they  were  unsaleable  in  Texas.  He  smiled 
grimly  at  this  and  remarked  that  the  market  was  there, 
but  the  difficulty  was  to  get  paid  ;  for  they  had  no 
money,  and  the  Imperialists  were  thieves  ! 

El  Capitan,  for  such  he  was,  announced  he  would 
stay  in  San  Juan  till  the  following  morning  to  rest  his 
troop,  which  had  a  long  march  before  it  to  Presidio, 
some  fifty  miles  higher  up  the  river.  Could  his  friend 
Don  Immanuel  feed  his  men  and  horses  for  the  day  ? 
He  had  no  money  to  give  him,  but  plenty  of  receipt 
forms  !  Of  course  he  could,  "  con  todo  el  gusto  del 
mundo  "  ;  but  when  the  Captain's  back  was  turned,  I 
caught  the  victim  shaking  his  clenched  fist  at  him, 
with  a  horrible  grimace. 

To  make  sure  his  friend  didn't  get  wind  of  my  beeves, 
Don  Immanuel  now  sent  an  order  for  liis  men  to  drive 


436  CATTLE-DEALING    IN   MEXICO 

them  some  miles  farther  up  the  valley,  there  to  remain 
till  the  coast  was  clear.  The  fact  is  that  stern  patriot 
intended  selling  them  to  the  Imperialists,  who  would 
pay  a  good  price,  and  he  had  no  mind  to  be  robbed  of 
his  profit ;  which  was  just  as  well  for  me. 

Seeing  there  was  no  help  for  it,  my  host  put  the  best 
face  he  could  on  it,  and  had  one  of  his  own  cattle 
slaughtered,  to  feed  his  unwelcome  guests.  So  towards 
evening  there  was  great  feasting  in  the  pueblo,  and 
especially  in  the  venta,  where  the  Alcalde  entertained 
Don  Manuel,  his  two  Sergeants,  and  myself  with  a  very 
special  dish,  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all  frontier  Mexicans. 
This  is  the  head  of  the  bullock,  baked,  with  all  the  hair 
on,  in  a  hole  in  the  ground,  which,  when  properly  heated, 
is  covered  with  slabs  of  stone  and  earth  piled  on  them. 
When  thoroughly  cooked  the  skin  and  hair  peel  off,  and 
you  have  a  dish  which  for  tenderness,  juiciness  and 
flavour,  is  very  hard  to  beat. 

After  supper  we  started  out  to  join  the  "  fandango," 
or  al  fresco  dance,  on  the  hard-beaten  earthen  floor 
behind  the  venta.  The  music  was  discoursed  by  a 
violinist,  and  the  dances  mostly  waltzes,  though  now 
and  then  a  cotillion  was  called,  or  a  "  danza,"  the  national 
dance,  something  like  a  very  slow  polka.  Coffee  was 
supplied  "  free  gratis  "  by  mine  host,  but  any  one  who 
wanted  aguadiente  had  to  pay  for  it — as  a  matter  of 
principle,  I  suppose.  The  fandango  was  kept  up  till 
near  daybreak,  though  I  retired  early ;  for  the  Mexican 
loves  dancing  with  all  his  soul,  and  is  generally  a  very 
good  performer. 

Their  overnight  dissipation  notwithstanding,  Don 
Manuel's  ragged  troop  was  early  on  the  road,  to  the  no 
small  relief  of  myself  and  Don  Immanuel,  who  speeded 
the  parting  guests  with  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  nip  of 
aguadiente.  In  an  hour  or  two  my  cattle  were  brought 
back  to  the  corral,  and  my  friend  and  I  set  to  work 
to  complete  the  deal  we  had  commenced  on  my  arrival. 


THE    DEAL    COMPLETED  437 

Finally,  after  an  hour  or  two's  haggling,  I  agreed  to 
accept    $12   apiece   in   hard   cash. 

Then  I  saddled  up,  and  with  many  "  adios  "  and  a 
"  Vaya  te  con  Dios  "  from  La  Seilora,  departed  with 
my  plunder,  well  satisfied  with  the  result  of  my  trip. 


CHAPTER    V 

DROVING   TO   NEW    ORLEANS 

AFTER  my  return  from  Mexico,  business  matters  at  the 
ranch  claimed  my  attention  for  some  two  months,  so 
that  it  was  not  until  September  15,  1865,  that  I  was 
ready  to  start  on  my  seven-hundred-mile  drive  to  the 
Chafalaya  River,  en  route  for  New  Orleans.  At  sunrise 
that  morning,  then,  I  set  out  with  102  splendid  steers, 
and  accompanied  by  my  friend  Jack  Vinton  and  four 
vaqueros.  Each  of  us,  including  the  Mexicans,  had 
a  spare  horse,  for  driving  wild  cattle  is  no  child's  play, 
and  soon  wears  out  horseflesh.  Such  clothing  and 
necessaries  as  we  took  were  carried  in  our  "  malletas," 
or  saddle-bags  ;  so  we  travelled  in  light  marching  order. 

The  cattle  were  very  troublesome  at  first,  and  we 
made  but  slow  progress,  so  that  it  was  the  18th  before 
we  reached  the  first  creek  west  of  San  Antonio.  There, 
the  following  day,  we  were  joined  by  Dick  Lemmons 
and  four  more  vaqueros,  who  brought  118  additional 
beeves,  from  another  part  of  the  ranch,  making  my 
drove  up  to  220  head.  They  were  all  prime  beasts, 
such  as  any  cattle-raiser  in  this  country  might  be  proud 
to  own  ;  indeed,  I  never  saw  a  finer  lot  anywhere  in 
the  West,  though  I  say  it  who  shouldn't. 

Whenever  my  route  led  near  a  cattle-ranch,  I  penned 
my  cattle  at  night,  if  possible,  for  I  was  mortally  afraid 
of  a  stampede  in  the  darkness,  especially  so  comparatively 
near  home  as  we  then  were.  If  no  corrals  were  available 
they  had  to  be  herded  all  night ;  and  if  the  feed  was  not 
good  and  water  scarce,  and  the  beeves  in  consequence 

438 


A    STORM   AND    A    STAMPEDE  439 

restless,  all  hands  had  to  turn  out  for  that  purpose. 
Well,  the  night  after  Lemmons  joined  us,  we  had  to 
herd  on  the  prairie  a  few  miles  east  of  San  Antonio. 
The  evening  was  close  and  oppressive,  and  the  sun  set 
with  an  angry  glare  I  didn't  like  the  look  of  ;  but  the 
cattle  had  had  good  water,  grass  was  plentiful,  and  I 
dismissed  care  from  my  mind.  Soon  the  half  of  us, 
who  had  the  first  watch  in,  had  off-saddled  and  picketed 
our  horses,  and  were  enjoying  our  frugal  supper  of  dried 
beef,  bread  and  coffee.  This  dispatched,  we  rolled 
ourselves  in  our  blankets  and,  with  saddles  for  pillows, 
were  presently  asleep. 

It  seemed  to  me  I  had  only  just  dozed  off,  though 
they  told  me  afterwards  I  had  been  snoring  for  two 
hours,  when  I  was  rudely  awakened  by  a  deluge  of  rain 
and  an  awful  rolling,  rending  clap  of  thunder  over 
head.  I  was  on  my  feet  in  an  instant,  but  for  the  moment 
could  see  nothing  in  the  inky  blackness  of  the  night, 
though  in  the  distance  I  could  hear,  above  the  turmoil 
of  the  storm,  the  shouts  of  the  men  and  the  galloping  of 
the  horses  and  the  cattle.  Then  came  a  blinding  flash 
of  lightning,  that  for  one  brief  moment  lit  up  the  scene 
and  showed  me  my  drove  scattering  to  all  the  four 
winds  of  heaven.  It  also  showed  me  my  horse  straining 
at  his  lariat  to  join  the  fray.  Fortunately  it  was  good 
strong  rawhide  and  held  him,  so  that  in  less  time  than 
it  takes  to  tell,  we  of  the  watch  in  were  mounted  and 
in  hot  pursuit  of  the  vanished  cattle,  guided  in  our 
search  by  the  lightning-flashes. 

What  need  to  tell  of  the  miseries  of  that  dreadful 
night  ?  The  wind  and  the  rain  buffeted  and  soaked 
us  ;  the  thunder  rolled  overhead  almost  incessantly, 
and  the  cattle  became  wilder  and  more  terrified  the 
more  we  tried  to  stay  their  headlong  flight.  Fortunately 
for  me  the  country  was  open,  rolling  prairie  for  miles 
and  miles  ;  had  it  been  brushy  I  should  probably  have 
lost  the  whole  drove,  at  least  temporarily.  As  it  was, 


440  DROVING    TO    NEW    ORLEANS 

when  day  at  last  broke,  and  we  rounded  up  the  cattle 
about  twelve  miles  from  camp,  forty  of  them  had  dis 
appeared.  The  remainder  by  this  time  were  pretty  well 
done  up,  so  with  half  my  hands  and  Jack  Vinton  I  re 
turned  to  camp  with  them,  whilst  Lemmons  and  the 
others  set  off  to  hunt  up  the  absentees,  with  orders  not 
to  return  without  them. 

For  ten  days  we  waited,  herding  the  cattle  in  the 
neighbourhood,  without  losing  any  more ;  and  then 
Lemmons  came  into  camp,  bringing  only  fifteen  head 
with  him.  The  other  twenty-five  no  doubt  had  made 
a  bee  line  for  home  and  had  for  days  been  enjoying  their 
native  pastures  on  the  Frio. 

It  was  a  bad  start,  but  I  could  wait  no  longer  for  fear 
of  losing  my  market,  as  the  season  was  already  late  and 
the  way  was  long.  Many  were  my  misgivings  as  to  how 
many  more  I  should  lose  before  I  reached  my  journey's 
end,  but  I  may  say  at  once  that  I  only  lost  five  head 
besides  these,  and  that  in  the  almost  impenetrable  brush 
we  got  into  on  the  borders  of  Louisiana.  So,  after  all, 
I  was  fairly  lucky  in  my  drive. 

For  the  next  ten  days  we  kept  steadily  on  our  journey 
eastwards  without  any  incident  worth  recording,  passing 
gradually  out  of  the  purely  ranching  district  of  Western 
Texas  into  the  region  of  cotton  plantations  and  farms. 
Before  the  war  the  planters  had  been  prosperous  and, 
many  of  them,  wealthy  men,  but  now  all  that  was  changed. 
The  ravages  of  war  were  not  much  in  evidence  till  we 
neared  the  borders  of  Louisiana,  but  the  planters  had 
lost  their  slaves,  and,  with  them,  the  bulk  of  their  capital. 
Things  were  in  a  transition  stage,  and  many  of  the 
freedmen  refused  to  work  at  first,  preferring  to  live  on 
the  produce  of  the  "  truck  patches,"  or  gardens,  they 
cultivated  as  slaves,  and  on  what  they  could  steal.  De 
prived  so  suddenly  of  their  labour,  the  masters,  for  the 
most  part,  sat  down  in  dull,  hopeless  despair  ;  dig  they 
could  not,  and  "  to  beg  they  were  ashamed  "  ;  moreover, 


RUINED    PLANTERS  441 

there  were  few  to  beg  from  with  any  hope  of  profit,  for 
almost  all  their  neighbours  were  reduced  to  the  same 
depths  of  poverty. 

The  planters  in  their  days  of  prosperity  had  been  an 
open-handed,  hospitable  folk,  spending  their  incomes 
freely.  No  one  thought  of  saving ;  indeed,  to  do  so 
would  have  savoured  too  much  of  the  ways  of  the  despised 
Northern  traders  ;  so  when  evil  days  came  they  had 
no  resources  to  fall  back  upon,  and  families,  brought  up 
in  luxury  and  refinement,  were  reduced  to  dire  want,  if 
not  absolute  starvation.  To  this  conduct  of  the  f reed- 
men  there  were,  however,  honourable  exceptions,  and 
on  more  than  one  plantation  I  passed,  the  former  slaves 
were  working  for  their  old  masters  just  as  heretofore ; 
only  now  they  were  working  for  wages,  or  the  expectation 
of  them  when  better  times  came  and  "  Massa  "  had 
money  to  pay  them  with. 

In  these  cases  the  planters  had  earned  the  affection  of 
their  negroes  by  kind  treatment,  and  chiefly  by  never 
separating  families  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided. 
These  kindly  folk  were  often  overrun  by  slaves  for  whom 
it  was  difficult  to  find  work,  though  they  had  to  be  fed, 
clothed,  and  housed  at  the  owner's  expense,  for  nothing 
can  stop  the  increase  of  the  black  races.  Then  the  only 
remedy  they  could  adopt  was  to  let  out  their  superfluous 
hands  to  work  on  the  neighbouring  plantations,  or  in 
the  towns ;  but  they  never  sent  them  to  auction  at  the 
slave-marts,  or  sold  them  to  the  dealers,  who  were  always 
on  the  look-out  for  "  likely  "  niggers,  and  would  pay 
heavy  prices  for  them  too.  So  these  men,  when  mis 
fortune  and  ruin  fell  upon  their  neighbours,  reaped 
the  reward  of  their  good  deeds,  and  weathered  the 
storm. 

One  of  the  most  curious  and  interesting  cases  I  came 
across  of  freedmen  standing  by  their  old  master  was  that 
of  a  mulatto  named  Carol  Jones,  who  owned  a  small 
cotton  plantation  on  the  Sabine  River,  the  boundary 


442  DROVING    TO    NEW    ORLEANS 

between  Texas  and  Louisiana.  He  was  a  man  of  in 
telligence  and  some  education,  and  before  the  war  had 
owned  some  twenty  niggers,  and  was  well-to-do. 
Whether  he  had  purchased,  or  been  given,  his  freedom 
I  don't  remember ;  but  he  was  a  strong  Secessionist,  and 
so  popular  with  his  white  neighbours,  though  of  course 
he  had  to  remember  his  colour  and  not  attempt  to  mix 
with  them  on  terms  of  equality.  This  of  course  he  would 
have  had  to  do  equally  in  the  North,  as  in  the  South  ; 
indeed,  notwithstanding  the  fuss  the  Yankees  made  about 
the  niggers  and  their  wrongs,  many  of  which  were  very 
real,  they  held  them  socially  in  greater  abhorrence  than 
did  the  Southerners. 

All  his  hands  remained  with  him,  and  he  and  they 
appeared  to  be  on  the  best  of  terms  ;  so  he  must  have 
been  a  good  master  in  the  vanished  days  of  slavery. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable  since,  as  the  ranker  who 
gets  a  commission  in  the  army  is  always  the  severest 
disciplinarian,  so  the  workman  who  rises  to  be  an  em 
ployer  is  usually  the  hardest  taskmaster.  We  put  up 
one  night  at  his  place,  and  received  the  best  entertain 
ment  we  had  had  for  many  a  day,  Jones,  of  course, 
waiting  on  the  three  white  men  at  his  own  table. 

There  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  white  and  black 
which,  I  gather,  is  ever  widening  in  the  Southern  States  ; 
and  what  the  end  of  it  will  be,  and  whether  it  can  ever  be 
bridged  over,  no  man  can  tell.  The  outlook,  I  fear,  is 
ominous  of  trouble  for  the  future,  for  there  are  already 
7,000,000  negroes,  mainly  in  the  Southern  States.  In 
another  twenty-five  years  this  number  will  be  doubled ; 
and  then,  if  a  modus  vivendi  cannot  be  arranged  be 
tween  the  races,  what  is  to  be  done  with  them  ?  Truly 
the  curse  of  slavery  has  come  home  to  roost ! 

When  we  went  on  our  way,  and  bade  good-bye  to  the 
friendly  mulatto,  I  held  out  my  hand  to  him.  He, 
glancing  shamefacedly  at  my  companions,  hesitated  to 
take  it,  but,  as  I  still  held  it  out,  at  last  grasped  it,  and 


DRIVING  THROUGH  BRUSH  443 

wrung  it  hard,  then  turned  away  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
A  little  scene  perhaps  hardly  worth  recalling,  only  it 
speaks  volumes  anent  the  relations  between  the  races. 
Jack  and  Dick  scowled  at  the  "  nigger  "  as  they  turned 
their  horses  away,  but  said  never  a  word. 

On  October  8  we  were  nearing  the  Brazoo  River,  a 
wide  stream  150  miles  east  of  Austin.  Here,  either 
stupidly  or  maliciously,  I  was  put  on  the  wrong  road, 
which  took  us  forty  miles  out  of  our  way  and  into  the 
very  thickest  brush  I  ever  drove  cattle  through.  For 
three  days  and  nights  we  floundered  about  in  these 
thickets,  wherein  were  no  roads  to  guide  us,  finding 
little  water  and  less  grass.  All  this  time  the  cattle 
were  getting  more  and  more  restless  and  difficult  to 
drive,  and  we  had  our  clothes  pretty  well  torn  off  us 
in  the  effort  to  keep  them  together.  The  fourth  day 
things  were  no  better,  and  that  night  my  misfortunes 
culminated  in  a  terrific  thunderstorm  and  a  deluge  of 
rain.  In  the  midst  of  this  the  cattle  broke  in  all  direc 
tions,  and  nothing  we  could  do  could  stop  them.  Since 
there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done,  we  camped  just  where 
we  were  and  as  we  were — i.e.  hungry  and  cold  and  wet — 
and  waited  for  daylight. 

With  the  first  streak  of  light  we  started  out  to  search 
for  the  drove,  though  with  no  good  hope  of  finding  many 
of  the  cattle  that  day.  I  knew  well  enough  the  beeves 
wouldn't  stop  till  they  got  out  of  the  brush  and  found 
water  and  grass  ;  but  how  far  would  they  have  to  go — 
and  would  they  scatter,  or  bunch  up  together  ?  These 
things  we  could  only  guess  at  as  we  pushed  on,  following 
the  widest  trail  through  the  brush,  but  never  seeing 
hoof  or  horn  all  the  morning. 

Towards  afternoon,  side  trails  began  to  come  in  right 
and  left,  and  join  the  main  one  we  were  on  ;  instinct 
was  guiding  them  to  what  they  wanted,  and  pretty  well 
the  whole  lot  were  steering  for  it  straight !  The  brush 
began  to  get  less  dense,  then  vanished  entirely,  and  at 


444  DROVING    TO    NEW    ORLEANS 

sundown  we  came  out  on  a  big  clearing,  some  hundreds 
of  acres  in  extent,  with  good  grass,  and  a  creek  running 
through  it.  There  were  the  cattle  sure  enough,  scattered 
all  over  the  place,  making  up  for  lost  time,  and  all  our 
troubles  were  over,  for  that  day  at  least.  When  we 
came  to  round  them  up,  all  were  there  but  three,  and 
those  I  never  saw  again. 

The  day  after  my  lucky  find  we  travelled  through 
brush  again,  and  then  came  out  on  a  comparatively  open 
"  piney-barren "  country,  through  which  it  was  easy 
enough  to  drive,  and,  travelling  easily,  reached  Trinity 
Creek  on  October  18.  Here  was  a  considerable  extent 
of  rich,  well-timbered  river-bottom  land,  with  good 
plantations  at  intervals,  but  most  of  them,  alas  !  in 
woful  plight.  The  next  day  the  track  we  followed  led 
us  into  thick  brush  again,  and  there  I  lost  two  more  of 
my  cattle. 

But  now  my  troubles  were  at  an  end,  for  a  time  at 
least,  for  that  evening  we  emerged  at  a  good  farm,  be 
longing  to  a  Mr.  Gorman,  where  was  a  large  pen  for  the 
beeves  ;  and  all  hands  could  rest  that  night.  Here  I 
met  a  Mr.  Duncan,  a  cattle-buyer  from  New  Orleans, 
who  made  me  an  offer  for  all  my  stock.  The  cattle 
showed  signs  of  their  long  journey  and  often  scanty 
pasture  ;  moreover,  there  were  conflicting  rumours  as 
to  the  state  of  the  markets,  so  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
sell,  if  I  could  get  my  price,  though  we  didn't  come  to  a 
deal  that  night. 

The  next  morning  Duncan  turned  back  with  me, 
and  having  agreed  the  price  at  $4,875  for  the  lot,  I  handed 
over  the  190  head  to  him  at  the  next  pen  we  came  to, 
receiving  $500  down,  the  balance  to  be  paid  in  New 
Orleans.  Having  settled  with  my  hands,  I  sent  them 
back  to  the  ranch  with  the  horses,  but  of  course  had 
to  go  on  myself  with  Duncan  to  get  my  cash  in  the  city. 
There  I  intended  to  take  steamer  for  Galveston,  and 
thence  make  my  way  back  to  the  ranch.  If  I  had  only 


THE    END    OF    THE    DRIVE  445 

done  so,  I  should  have  saved  myself  from  heavy  loss, 
and  much  fruitless  toil. 

Everything  went  smoothly  on  the  rest  of  the  journey, 
and  on  November  11  my  fifty-seven  days'  drive  ended 
at  the  boat-landing  on  the  Chafalaya  River.  There  the 
next  day  we  shipped  the  cattle  on  the  ss.  Tatan,  and 
the  afternoon  of  the  following  day  landed  at  Jeafferson 
City,  on  the  outskirts  of  New  Orleans.  There,  having 
got  my  cash  all  right,  I  said  good-bye  to  Duncan,  and 
was  going  to  take  the  cars  for  the  city,  en  route  for  home, 
when  unfortunately  an  acquaintance  I  had  made  on 
the  boat  introduced  me  to  a  salesman  named  Noel,  one 
of  the  biggest  dealers  in  the  cattle-yards.  He  showed 
me  a  big  drove  of  hogs  he  had  just  bought  from  up- 
country,  and  told  me  there  was  a  splendid  market  for 
them  as  the  stocks  were  very  low  and  the  demand 
brisk.  Finally,  to  cut  a  long  story  short,  he  persuaded 
me  there  was  heaps  of  money  in  the  spec.  ;  so,  instead 
of  going  to  Galveston,  and  so  back  to  the  ranch,  I  took 
the  back  passage  on  the  Tatan  to  the  boat-landing,  and 
presently  turned  myself  into  a  pig-drover,  which  was 
the  most  heart-breaking,  hateful  occupation  I  ever 
followed  in  all  my  varied  experience. 

As  we  passed  through  the  part  of  Eastern  Texas  border 
ing  on  the  Sabine  River,  I  had  noticed  that  the  farmers 
thereabouts  were  great  hog-raisers,  an  industry  I  had 
never  come  across  since  my  early  days  in  Western 
Virginia.  A  few  of  the  settlers  in  Kansas  kept  a  small 
number  of  pigs  for  their  own  use,  but  the  cattlemen  of 
Western  Texas  held  the  brutes  in  abhorrence,  and  one 
rarely  saw  them  on  the  ranches  in  that  country.  Wliat 
my  friends  there  would  have  said  to  me,  had  they  known 
I  had  turned  pig-dealer,  I  don't  know.  I  certainly  never 
bragged  of  my  doings  in  that  line  when  I  got  back,  and 
I  don't  think  they  ever  got  wind. 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  run  back  to  the  cattle-landing, 
for  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr.  Rabalais,  a  planter 


446  DROVING    TO    NEW    ORLEANS 

from  Bayou  de  Glade,  who  had  seen  much  service  with 
the  Confederate  forces  in  those  parts.  We  passed  the 
scenes  of  many  of  the  fights  in  which  he  had  taken  part, 
and  his  descriptions  of  them  were  most  interesting  ;  but 
these  battles  are  now  a  twice-told  tale,  and  space  will 
not  permit  to  re-tell  them,  for  I  must  draw  to  the  end 
of  this  long  history  of  my  doings. 

On  November  16  I  parted  from  my  friend  and  set  out 
on  my  solitary  ride  back  to  Texas,  recrossing  the  Sabine 
River  on  November  24.  Two  days  later  I  turned  off 
the  road  to  a  place  called  Jones ville,  a  small  village, 
where  lived  a  man  named  Brown,  reputed  to  be  the 
king  of  the  hog-raisers  in  that  district. 

I  found  he  owned  about  150  hogs  himself,  and  that 
he  was  willing  to  sell  me  100  of  the  best,  and  to  help 
me  hunt  up  as  many  more  as  could  be  got  in  the 
neighbourhood. 

I  therefore  made  my  headquarters  with  him,  and  by 
December  10  we  had  collected  377,  which  were  penned 
on  his  farm,  and  fed  on  maize,  till  I  was  ready  to  start. 
Now  the  hogs  in  those  parts  are  mostly  turned  loose 
in  the  woods  to  get  their  own  living  on  the  abundant 
mast  of  the  live-oaks,  and  it  is  only  when  that  runs 
short  that  they  are  driven  up  to  be  fed  on  corn.  Con 
sequently  the  brutes  are  as  wild  as  hawks,  and  wonder 
fully  fleet  of  foot.  Add  to  this  a  contrariness  above  all 
hogs  whose  acquaintance  I  had  made  before,  and  you 
may  in  part  realise  what  an  awful  job  it  was  to  drive 
them,  especially  through  a  brushy  country. 

In  the  open  it  was  bad  enough,  for  then,  after  going 
along  sedately  for  a  time,  as  though  reduced  to  discipline 
and  order,  the  leaders  would  take  it  into  their  heads 
to  break  back,  followed  by  the  bulk  of  the  drove,  and 
that  meant  a  long  run  before  they  could  be  turned  from 
the  error  of  their  ways.  But  in  brush,  who  can  describe 
the  dreadful  scene  of  trouble  and  confusion  ?  They 
scattered  in  all  directions,  and  after  them  we  had  to  go, 


A   TEMPTING    PROFIT  447 

tearing  through  thorns  and  briars  and  thickets,  in  the 
wild  endeavour  to  stop  them,  till  our  clothes  became 
as  rags  upon  us.  By  the  time  we  had  gathered  the 
first  drove  at  Brown's  place,  my  new  suit  that  I  had 
bought  in  New  Orleans  would  scarce  decently  cover 
my  nakedness,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness  of 
Mrs.  Brown  (a  good  motherly  woman),  who  made  me 
a  coat  and  pants  out  of  her  own  home-spun  cloth,  I  don't 
know  what  I  should  have  done. 

The  hogs  were  generally  bought  by  weight,  when  the 
farmer  owned  a  weighing  machine  ;  if  he  didn't,  a  guess 
had  to  be  made,  with  the  result  that  the  bargaining 
was  almost  interminable.  I  paid  for  my  hogs,  either 
by  weight  or  by  guess,  5  cents  a  pound,  or  thereabouts, 
and  their  average  weight  was  140  lb.,  so  that  altogether 
I  invested  $3,500  in  hog  flesh.  When  I  left  New 
Orleans  they  were  fetching  9  cents  per  pound,  so  I 
had  a  good  and  substantial  profit  to  look  forward  to, 
after  deducting  all  expenses.  That  profit  tempted  me 
into  the  business,  in  the  hope  that,  with  the  money 
realised  by  the  sale  of  my  cattle,  I  might  have  enough 
to  carry  me  home  to  England,  there  to  realise  a  longing 
that  had  been  in  my  heart  all  through  my  stormy  life 
in  Texas.  But  it  was  not  to  be,  and  bitter  was  my 
disappointment. 

On  December  11,  with  three  negroes  and  a  hired 
two-horse  wagon  to  carry  corn,  I  started  from  Brown's 
with  a  drove  of  two  hundred  head,  leaving  an  American 
named  Scanlan  and  three  more  niggers  to  follow  on 
with  the  remaining  177  the  next  day.  The  droves  were 
divided  for  the  convenience  of  penning  and  feeding. 

On  December  17,  which  was  a  Sunday,  I  picked  up 
another  lot  of  133,  which  had  been  gathered  for  me  by 
a  Baptist  preacher  and  his  class-leader,  who  had  ad 
joining  farms  on  the  Angelina  River.  These  I  remember 
were  all  black  but  one,  and  I  think  wilder  than  even 
their  relatives  in  the  other  droves.  The  preacher  and 


448  DROVING    TO    NEW    ORLEANS 

his  friend  made  some  little  fuss  about  dealing  on  the 
"  Sabbath,"  but  when  I  said  I  couldn't  stop,  because  of 
the  other  droves  behind  me,  they  waived  their  scruples, 
and  made  a  pretty  keen  trade  too.  Here  I  hired  another 
white  man,  named  Davis,  and  three  more  niggers,  as 
well  as  another  wagon,  and  leaving  him  in  charge  of  my 
original  drove,  went  on  with  the  new  one  myself  that 
afternoon. 

I  thought  I  knew  by  this  time  what  running  after 
half  wild  pigs  meant,  but  this  lot  taught  me  my  ignor 
ance.  However,  I  managed  to  drive  them  six  miles 
before  dark,  and  then  penned  them  at  a  Mrs.  McAnulty's 
farm.  But  I  was  clean  done  up,  and  good  Mrs.  Brown's 
new  pants  were  nearly  torn  off  me  !  They  were  past 
mending,  and  I  must  have  gone  practically  naked,  had 
not  Mrs.  McAnulty,  a  kindly  old  Irishwoman,  let  me 
have  a  pair  of  her  husband's. 

I  don't  propose  to  tell  all  the  miseries  I  endured  on 
that  trip,  between  December  11  and  January  6,  1866, 
on  which  latter  date  my  troubles  ended,  for  the  time 
being,  at  the  Chafalaya  landing,  but  one  very  special 
one  I  may  mention.  Towards  the  latter  part  of  De 
cember  we  had  a  bad  spell  of  rain,  with  bitter  cold  and 
sharp  frosts  at  night,  and  the  roads  became  almost 
impassable.  On  December  24  it  culminated  in  a  perfect 
deluge,  that  flooded  all  the  low-lying  lands.  Through 
it  all  I  had  to  ride  backwards  and  forwards,  as  best  I 
might,  to  look  after  the  various  droves  and  keep  them 
going. 

Three  days  after  this  I  had  ridden  seventeen  miles 
back  to  the  rear  drove,  and,  catching  up  the  leading 
one,  soon  after  dark,  found  it  and  the  hands  floundering 
about  in  a  swamp.  The  hogs  were  all  swimming  hither 
and  thither  in  the  deep  water,  and  the  men  wading  after 
them  nearly  up  to  their  necks.  Hitching  my  horse  to 
the  nearest  tree,  I  plunged  into  the  ice-cold  water  ;  and 
it  was  cold !  Standing  pretty  close  together  in  the 


IN    A    CYPRESS    SWAMP  449 

swamp  was  a  thicket  of  Cypress-trees,  each  one  draped 
from  top  to  bottom  with  festoons  and  sheets  of  grey 
moss,  that  added  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  about. 
By  the  light  of  a  young  moon  we  splashed  about  for 
four  hours  or  more,  for  it  was  nearly  midnight  before 
we  got  through  that  horrible  place,  and  then  only  with 
the  loss  of  twenty-six  hogs.  Two  hours  more  we  toiled 
on  through  the  mud,  and  then  found  a  hospitable 
farmer,  who  penned  the  hogs  and  took  us  in  and  fed  and 
warmed  us. 

I  don't  think  there  is  anything  else  worth  noting, 
except  that  on  reaching  a  small  town  called  Alexandria, 
on  the  Red  River,  which  had  been  partially  burned  by 
the  Yankees,  I  found  a  coloured  regiment  quartered 
there,  the  first  I  had  ever  seen.  They  seemed  to  be 
having  "  high  old  times,"  and  strutted  about  much 
pleased  with  their  uniforms.  Poor  fellows  !  it  was  a 
new  sensation  to  them  to  be  somebody.  My  niggers 
fraternised  with  them,  and,  I  remember,  got  so  drunk 
that  they  were  good  for  nothing  next  day  ! 

At  the  Chafalaya  landing  I  shipped  463  hogs  on  the 
as.  Tatan,  and  no  mortal  was  ever  more  thankful  than 
I  that  my  pig-driving  was  over.  I  must  have  looked 
like  some  dilapidated  tramp  when  I  stepped  on  board 
that  boat,  for  my  clothes  were  in  rags  and  tatters,  and 
I  had  only  the  remains  of  boots  on  my  feet.  However, 
I  comforted  myself  with  the  thought  that  all  my  toils 
were  over,  and  that  now  I  should  reap  my  reward,  but 
what  that  really  was  I  must  tell  in  another  chapter. 


29 


CHAPTER    VI 

A   TEXAN    RAILWAY 

THE  good  ship  Tatan  ran  alongside  the  wharf  at  Jeafferson 
City  at  2  p,m.  on  the  7th,  and  soon  my  hogs  were  safely 
penned  in  Noel's  yard.  They  were  a  good  lot  and  in 
very  fair  condition,  notwithstanding  their  travels,  for 
I  had  fed  them  well  on  maize  en  route. 

When  I  came  to  total  up  all  my  expenses,  including 
payments  for  corn,  hire  of  hands  and  wagons,  freight 
to  New  Orleans,  etc.,  I  found  the  hogs  stood  me 
in  a  trifle  over  $9  apiece.  That  was  more  than  I  had 
calculated  on,  but  if  the  market  had  kept  up,  I  still 
might  reckon  on  a  fair  profit.  Off  I  went  then  to  my 
flattering  friend's  office  to  see  how  the  land  lay.  I  told 
him  how  many  hogs  I  had  brought,  and  the  trouble  I 
had  had  in  bringing  them,  and  we  strolled  out  to  the 
pens  to  inspect  them. 

'  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  guess  they're  a  likely  lot,  but 
hogs  is  away  down  since  you  was  here  two  months 
ago  ;  pity  you  couldn't  ha'  hurried  up  a  bit,  and  got 
here  sooner !  " 

"  Get  here  sooner  !  How  the  blazes  could  I  do 
that  ?  "  I  cried.  "  Why,  I  had  to  drive  the  brutes  all 
across  Louisiana,  all  through  the  swamps  and  the  mud 
—till  I  wished  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  hog  in  all 
creation  ;  but  what  do  you  reckon  they're  worth  now 
they  are  here  ?  "  Slowly  he  shifted  his  quid  of 
tobacco  from  one  cheek  to  the  other  and  then  back 
again,  but  said  nothing,  whilst  I  listened,  and  waited  to 
hear  my  fate. 

450 


GOOD    SHOOTING  451 

At  last,  just  as  I  was  going  to  repeat  my  question, 
he  squirted  a  brown  stream  of  juice  into  the  ear  of  a  hog 
peacefully  basking  at  his  feet,  with  such  force  that  it 
jumped  up  as  if  shot  and  went  off  with  a  grunt.  "  Now 
for  my  fate,"  I  thought.  But  no  ;  not  yet  was  I  to  know  it. 

My  friend  seemed  so  pleased  with  his  success  that  he 
moved  further  down  the  pen-side,  his  hat  tilted  well 
off  his  forehead,  and  his  hands  deep  in  the  pockets  of 
his  pants,  till  he  found  another  unsuspecting  victim. 
This  one,  roused  from  his  slumbers  by  the  sound  of  our 
steps,  raised  his  head  and  opened  a  wary  eye,  in  which 
he  instantly  received  such  a  charge  of  juice  that  he  too 
jumped  up  and  made  off.  Noel  seemed  satisfied  with 
the  execution  he  had  wrought,  for  now  he  turned  to 
me,  and  slowly  said  :  '  Waal,  they're  a  likely  lot,  as  I 
said  afore,  and  if  they'd  been  here  two  months  ago, 
they'd  ha'  been  worth  $12.50.  Now  I  put  'em  at  $1 
apiece,  and  not  a  cent  more." 

That  meant  a  loss  of  more  than  a  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  salesman  saw  my  dismay,  I  suppose,  for  he 
quietly  added,  "  But  you  needn't  be  in  any  darned 
hurry  to  sell.  The  market  can't  go  much  worse,  and 
likely'll  rise  afore  long  ;  so  you  hold  on,  and  I  shan't 
charge  you  nothing  for  penning,  only  for  the  corn." 
I  believe  the  man  was  realty  disinterested  and  friendly, 
and  gave  me  what  he  thought  the  best  advice  under  the 
circumstances.  Unfortunately  for  me  I  took  it  again, 
and  determined  to  hold  on  for  a  week  or  two,  hoping  for 
better  times. 

By  the  end  of  the  first  week  the  market  was  worse, 
and  the  best  offer  I  could  get  was  $6.50.  The  second 
week  brought  no  improvement,  and  the  miserable  animals 
began  to  die  of  some  disease,  probably  swine  fever. 
Then  in  despair  I  put  my  stock  in  the  hands  of  a  com 
mission  agent,  to  sell  as  best  he  could  before  they  all 
died,  as  I  fully  expected  they  would.  To  cut  a  long 
story  short,  he  got  rid  of  the  last  lot  by  the  end  of  the 


452  A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 

third  week,  and  I  found  myself  a  loser  of  quite  $2,500, 
or  about  £500.  "  Served  me  right,"  I  kept  saying  to 
myself,  for  going  into  such  a  speculation,  instead  of 
going  back  to  my  ranch  with  nearly  £1,000  in  my 
pocket.  "  Why  had  I  been  such  a  fool  ?  "  But  blaming 
myself  and  my  folly  brought  no  relief  to  my  grievous 
disappointment,  for  now  I  saw  that  my  long-looked-for 
trip  home,  and  all  it  meant  to  me,  had  to  be  put  off 
indefinitely. 

My  three  weeks'  stay  in  New  Orleans  might,  under 
other  conditions,  have  been  interesting  enough,  especially 
to  a  man  like  myself  who  had  dwelt  so  long  on  the  out 
skirts  of  civilisation  ;  but  I  was  too  much  worried  about 
the  vile  hogs  and  my  losses  to  enjoy  myself.  The 
"  Queen  of  the  South,"  as  the  natives  call  her,  is  a  fine 
city,  though  I  must  confess  the  most  malodorous  I 
ever  was  in,  and  there  was,  even  in  those  days,  plenty 
to  see  as  well  as  to  smell. 

Though  she  was  said  by  eloquent  editors  to  be 
"  groaning  under  the  hated  yoke  of  the  Yankees,"  the 
groans  were  not  audible.  The  theatres,  of  which  there 
were  several,  were  crowded  night  after  night,  as  were 
the  music-halls  and  dancing-saloons  ;  whilst  in  the 
houses  of  the  wealthy,  dinner-parties  and  balls  were 
the  order  of  the  day.  The  endless  quays  and  wharves 
on  the  levee,  beside  the  Mississippi,  began  once  more 
to  fill  with  goods  from  all  parts  of  the  world  ;  though 
still  the  piles  of  cotton-bales,  which  before  the  war 
crowded  them  in  every  part,  were  few  and  far  between. 
In  fact,  the  city  was  rapidly  recovering  from  the  ruin 
and  misery  of  the  great  struggle,  in  which  she  had  suffered 
so  deeply,  and  preparing  to  reoccupy  her  proud  position 
of  capital  and  chief  emporium  of  the  South  and  West. 

To  divert  my  thoughts  from  my  many  worries  and 
anxieties,  my  friends  and  acquaintances  took  me  to  vari 
ous  places  of  amusement,  and  I  well  remember  hearing 
Artemus  Ward  lecture  on  the  Mormons,  at  the  Masonic 


NEW    ORLEANS    DIVERSIONS  453 

Hall.  At  that  time  ho  was  quite  unknown  to  fame  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic,  for  it  was  not,  if  I  remember,  till 
the  following  year  that  he  visited  England  for  the  first 
and  last  time.  His  humour  certainly  was  of  the  driest, 
and  his  stories,  told  without  the  ghost  of  a  smile,  were 
most  comical.  I  never  heard  any  audience  laugh  so 
heartily  as  his  did  that  night.  I  thought  his  lecturing 
infinitely  superior  to  his  writings,  which,  for  most  people, 
are  in  a  measure  spoiled  by  the  silly  phonetic  spelling 
he  adopted. 

Another  night  I  saw  "  Macbeth  "  at  the  St.  Charles' 
Theatre,  with  the  Keans  in  it,  but,  though  the  acting  was 
of  course  good,  and  the  play  well  put  on  the  stage,  I 
didn't  enjoy  it  as  I  ought  to  have,  for,  in  the  most  thrilling 
scenes,  my  thoughts  would  turn  to  the  hog-pens  down  at 
Jeafferson  City,  and  my  dying  pigs. 

Yet  another  night  I  saw  Charlotte  Thompson  in  "  The 
Lady  of  Lyons,"  at  the  Varieties  Theatre,  and  enjoyed 
her  acting  as  well  as  my  troubles  would  permit. 

On  one  occasion  I  had  an  amusing  rencontre  with  a 
notorious  gambler  in  a  saloon  in  the  city,  of  which  there 
were  plenty  ;  for  the  Southerners  in  those  days  were  much 
given  to  cards,  which  were  played  everywhere — on  the 
steamboats,  in  the  hotels,  and  in  the  regular  saloons  set 
apart  for  the  purpose.  In  all  these  places  professional 
gamblers  abounded,  most  of  whom  were  pretty  "  hard 
cases,"  and  quick  with  their  six-shooters  ;  this  they  had 
to  be,  or  they  wouldn't  have  carried  on  their  trade  long. 
But  this  fellow,  though  a  bouncer  and  a  bully,  had  no 
real  fight  in  him,  which  perhaps  was  lucky  for  me. 

With  a  couple  of  friends  I  strolled  into  one  of  these 
saloons,  after  the  theatre,  just  to  look  on  and  pass  the 
time.  We  called  for  drinks,  and  sat  down  to  watch  the 
proceedings,  but  without  any  intention  of  playing,  for  I 
at  least  never  gambled.  The  game  was  "  poker,"  than 
which  there  is  none  at  which  the  really  clever  professional 
can  more  easily  plunder  his  victims.  The  stakes  were 


454  A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 

high,  and  the  "  pro."  seemed  to  be  having  a  very  good 
time  of  it,  for  he  raked  in  the  dollars  and  notes  nearly 
every  time.  At  last  one  of  the  players  was  either  cleared 
out  or  had  enough  of  it,  for  he  rose  to  go,  and  couldn't 
be  persuaded  to  sit  down  again  ;  so  probably  my  first 
surmise  was  correct. 

The  gambler,  however,  was  doing  too  well  to  leave  off 
without  trying  for  another  victim,  and  he  pitched  upon 
me  to  fill  the  billet.  Maybe  he  took  me  for  a  "  young 
man  from  the  country,"  which  indeed  I  was,  and  for  a 
greenhorn,  which,  in  some  respects,  I  was  too  ;  but  not  in 
the  matter  of  gamblers — I  had  seen  too  many  of  the  gentry 
at  work.  He  leaned  over  my  friend,  who  sat  next  him, 
and,  touching  me  on  the  shoulder,  said,  "  I  guess,  stranger, 
you'll  make  one,  and  take  a  hand  ?  " 

I  was  just  then  immersed  in  a  mental  calculation  of 
how  much  I  had  already  lost  by  the  confounded  hogs, 
and  how  much  more  I  was  likely  to  lose  before  I  had  done 
with  them,  so  I  answered  somewhat  shortly,  "  No,  I 
won't,  I  don't  gamble  "  ;  and  then  resumed  my  calcula 
tions.  Deep  in  my  own  not  very  pleasant  thoughts,  and 
with  my  hands  in  my  pockets,  I  sat  tilted  back  in  my 
rocking-chair,  and  paid  no  heed  to  what  was  passing,  till 
I  heard  the  fellow  say,  with  a  sneering  laugh,  "  Maybe 
the  young  fellow  don't  know  how,  but  I  reckon  we  can 
soon  teach  him  !  "  Then  some  of  the  others  laughed  too, 
and  I  looked  up  and  saw  they  were  laughing  at  me.  Then 
the  man  leaned  over  again,  and,  touching  me  once 
more  on  the  shoulder,  said,  "  I  guess  you  look  as  if  a 
lesson  would  do  you  good  ;  come  along  right  now,  an'  I'll 
give  it  you — you  can't  have  a  better  master." 

Almost  before  he  had  done  speaking,  I  jumped  to  my 
feet  and  clapped  my  six-shooter  to  his  head.  My  friends 
jumped  up  too,  and  drew  their  weapons  ;  but  no  one  else 
stirred.  We  had  been  too  quick  for  the  rowdies,  of  whom 
there  were  only  three  or  four.  Meanwhile  my  man  sat 
pale  and  trembling,  with  all  the  bounce  and  laughter 


THE    GAMBLER'S    FUNK  455 

gone  to  terror  and  sheer  funk.  "  Get  out  of  this,  you 
cheating  rascal,"  I  said,  "  or  I'll  shoot  you  like  the  dog 
you  are  "  ;  and  I  saw  him  to  the  door,  and  watched  him 
go  down  the  street  in  a  hurry.  His  friends  sat  still  and 
said  never  a  word,  so  presently  we  departed,  keeping  of 
course  a  wary  eye  on  the  gamblers  till  we  got  out ;  but 
they  didn't  molest  us,  and  we  thought  ourselves  well  out 
of  what  might  have  been  a  very  unpleasant  adventure. 

By  January  28  I  had  settled  up  with  the  commission 
merchants,  who  I  believe  robbed  me  after  their  kind, 
and  that  evening  engaged  a  passage  by  the  ss.  Magnolia 
of  the  Harris  line  sailing  for  Galveston  and  Indianola 
next  morning.  By  8  a.m.,  on  a  lovely  morning,  we  were 
under  weigh  and  steaming  down  the  broad  Mississippi. 
As  we  left  the  city  behind  us,  I  shook  off  dull  care  as  far 
as  I  could,  consoling  myself  with  the  thought  that  after 
all  I  was  still  young,  the  world  was  wide,  and  I  couldn't 
always  meet  with  bad  luck  in  it.  We  passed  many 
plantations,  chiefly  of  sugar  ;  but  alas  !  many  of  them 
were  ruined,  and  the  fine  houses  of  their  owners  nothing 
but  heaps  of  blackened  stones  and  wood  ;  such  ravages 
had  the  dogs  of  war  wrought  in  this  paradise  of  industry  ! 

It  was  three  days  steaming  to  Indianola,  and  there  1 
took  passage  in  a  schooner  for  Lavacca,  fifteen  miles 
distant,  where  I  hoped  to  catch  a  train  for  Victoria,  en 
route  for  San  Antonio.  I  say  hoped  advisedly,  for  I 
gathered  from  my  fellow  passengers  that  the  departure 
of  the  train  was  very  uncertain,  and  its  arrival  at  its 
destination  still  more  so.  However,  we  were  assured 
at  the  hotel  that  it  would  start  without  fail  at  2  p.m.  the 
day  after  our  arrival,  and  accordingly,  in  simple  faith, 
we  marched  up  to  the  station  at  that  hour.  No  sign  of 
the  train  was  to  be  seen,  and  the  shed  that  did  duty  for  a 
station  was  quite  deserted.  After  waiting  for  an  hour 
or  so  we  hunted  round  for  the  station  master,  and  at  laafc 
unearthed  him  in  a  saloon,  taking  his  ease,  and  his  drinks, 
in  a  rocking-chair.  He  evidently  resented  our  inquiries 


456  A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 

as  to  the  missing  cars,  and  seemed  annoyed  at  being 
disturbed  by  such  foolish  questions  as  when  they  were 
likely  to  start.  At  last  we  got  him  to  admit  that  nobody 
knew  the  answer  to  that  riddle  ;  it  might  be  the  next  day, 
or  the  day  after,  or  the  day  after  that.  "  You've  jist 
got  to  wait  at  the  hotel  till  she  comes  in ;  and  I  reckon 
she's  broke  down  somewhere,  or  she'd  ha'  bin  in  afore 
now.  You've  no  call  to  hurry  any ;  I'll  let  you  know 
when  she's  ready  "  ;  and  with  that  we  had  to  be  content. 

This  was  on  Thursday  afternoon.  All  Friday  there 
were  no  tidings  of  the  missing  conveyance  till  nearly 
midnight,  when  a  message  arrived  from  our  friend  the 
station  master  that  she  had  turned  up  at  last,  and  would 
probably  start  early  next  morning  if  the  driver — "  en 
gineer,"  they  called  him — was  sober  enough  !  Cheerful,  to 
have  one's  train  driven  by  a  drunken  man  !  But  any 
thing  was  better  than  kicking  one's  heels  in  Lavacca  and 
anathematising  the  railroad  management. 

We  received  notice  that  the  cars  would  start  at  9  a.m., 
but  an  hour  before  that  I  realised  we  were  doomed  to 
disappointment  again,  for  at  that  time  everybody  con 
nected  with  the  railroad,  station  master,  conductor,  and 
driver — all  were  hopelessly  drunk  at  the  hotel  !  And  as 
if  this  were  not  evident  enough,  they  announced  the 
fact  to  their  unhappy  victims  by  shouting  in  chorus,  at 
short  intervals,  "  The  Railroad's  drunk  !  Hooray  !  the 
Railroad's  on  the  tight !  " 

Not  till  the  following  morning  had  they  sufficiently 
recovered  to  make  a  start,  but  we  did  get  off  by  10  a.m. 
on  the  Sunday  morning. 

Was  ever  such  a  road  dignified  by  the  name  of  a  railway 
as  this  ?  I  never  saw  anything  like  it  in  all  my  travels. 
The  ties  were  hardly  within  hailing  distance  of  each  other, 
and  the  rails  were  so  bent  and  crooked  that  the  engine 
could  only  keep  the  road  with  great  difficulty. 

However,  it  was  comforting  to  think  that  there  wasn't 
much  risk  to  life  and  limb  if  we  did  run  off,  for  I  vow  an 


LEFT    IN    THE    LURCH  457 

ox-wagon  could  easily  have  beaten  us  in  a  race.  For 
about  two  miles  we  crawled  and  bumped  along  ;  then  came 
to  a  halt,  and  presently  began  a  retrograde  movement. 
The  "  engineer  "  had  taken  in  so  much  whiskey  over 
night  that  he  had  forgotten  to  take  in  any  water  for  his 
boiler,  and  we  had  to  return  for  it !  Two  hours  were 
wasted  by  this  strategic  movement  to  the  rear,  and  then 
we  started  once  more,  but  not  before  our  thirsty  "  en 
gineer  "  had  moistened  himself  with  more  whiskey. 

Slowly  we  crept  along  for  about  twelve  miles  ;  then 
came  to  a  sudden  halt,  and  discovered  we  had  been  left 
standing  on  the  line,  whilst  the  engine  was  steaming  off 
by  itself  !  Many  were  the  surmises  as  to  the  cause  of 
this  extraordinary  proceeding,  and  most  were  of  the 
opinion  that  it  was  a  practical  joke  on  the  part  of  the 
drunken  "  engineer."  Some  of  the  more  truculent 
passengers  began  to  handle  their  six-shooters,  and  talk 
ominously  of  what  they  would  do  to  him  if,  and  when, 
he  did  return  ;  and  all  took  a  gloomy  view  of  things  in 
general,  for  we  were  eighteen  miles  from  Victoria  and 
twelve  from  Lavacca,  and,  except  one  man  who  had 
brought  two  bottles  of  champagne,  no  one  had  anything 
either  eatable  or  drinkable  with  him.  Moreover,  between 
us  and  Victoria  was  nothing  but  open  prairie,  with  not 
a  single  house  upon  it. 

At  last  the  conductor — who,  by  the  way,  was  a  lieutenant 
in  a  black  regiment  of  U.S.  infantry,  the  line  being  run 
by  the  Government — informed  us  that  it  was  the  water 
difficulty  that  was  stopping  us  once  more.  The  "  en 
gineer,"  bemused  as  he  still  was,  had  neglected  to  take 
in  enough  at  Lavacca,  and  had  now  gone  on  six  miles 
to  a  water-hole,  where  he  hoped  to  find  sufficient.  "  And 
if  he  didn't  find  it  ?  "  we  asked.  "  Waal,  then  he's  got 
to  go  on  to  Victoria  to  get  it,  I  reckon." 

For  two  mortal  hours  we  waited,  with  growing  wrath 
and  impatience,  and  still  no  sign  of  the  engine  that  had 
so  basely  deserted  us  appeared.  It  was  noon,  and  the 


458  A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 

blazing  sun  on  the  shelterless  prairie  beat  down  on  those 
dog-boxes  of  cars  till  they  were  like  ovens.  Groups  of 
angry  passengers  gathered  about  the  conductor,  whose 
position  was  far  from  pleasant ;  we  began  to  think  we 
should  have  to  walk  the  eighteen  miles  that  lay  between 
us  and  our  goal,  and  it  wasn't  a  cheerful  prospect. 

Then  out  and  spake  an  old  fellow  who  suffered  from 
rheumatism,  a  planter  from  Eastern  Texas.  "  Say  !  you 
Mister  Conductor,  you're  the  Boss  of  these  one-horse  cars 
on  this  dog-gorned  track,  and  if  you  don't  put  out  and 
fetch  that  ingine  back,  and  quickly  too,  there's  going  to 
be  trouble  right  here."  So  the  conductor  went,  and  we 
all  turned  out  and  watched  him  grow  smaller  and  smaller, 
until  he  finally  disappeared  in  the  flickering  heat  of  that 
apparently  endless  line  of  rails.  Then  we  all  sat  down 
under  the  lee  of  the  cars — it  was  too  hot  inside — and 
waited  again. 

The  hours  sped  slowly  with  the  hungry,  thirsty  crowd, 
and  it  was  not  till  dusk  that  those  who  had  energy  enough 
left  to  keep  a  look-out  saw  the  cause  of  all  our  woes 
come  puffing  and  rocking  along  the  wretched  line.  Soon 
we  all  crowded  into  one  car,  and  leaving  all  the  others 
standing  in  the  desert,  for  fear  of  another  breakdown, 
steamed  off  with  hope  revived.  It  was  10  p.m.  before 
we  reached  Victoria,  and  then  we  made  a  bee-line  for  its 
one  hotel.  When  we  had  finished  our  supper  I  think 
I  may  say  we  had  had  our  money's  worth  ;  at  any  rate 
there  wasn't  much  left  for  those  who  had  the  ill-luck  to 
come  after  us. 

This  was  my  first  and  only  experience  of  a  Texan 
railway,  and  is  perhaps  worth  describing.  Now,  I  believe, 
the  trunk  line  from  the  States  to  Mexico  runs  somewhere 
through  the  country  we  so  painfully  traversed,  and  San 
Antonio  is  a  great  railway  depot !  "  The  old  order 
changeth,"  and  it  is  lucky  for  railway  travellers  that 
it  does. 

It  was  not  till  Tuesday    morning,  February  6,  that  I 


NEWS    FROM    MEXICO  459 

could  continue  my  journey  to  San  Antonio  by  stage  coach, 
which  did  the  trip  either  way  once  a  week.  We  started 
at  9  a.m.  and,  with  six  good  mules  to  draw  us,  did  the 
forty  miles  to  our  first  halting-place  early  in  the  evening, 
and  by  2  p.m.  next  day  reached  our  destination. 

It  was  nearly  five  months  since  I  had  heard  any  news 
from  the  ranch,  and  I  lost  no  time  in  looking  up  my 
friends  to  learn  the  tidings  from  the  frontier.  From 
the  best  of  these,  Dan  Cleaveland,  the  Mayor,  1  learned 
that  things  were  in  their  usual  state  :  no  adequate 
protection  had  been  provided  by  the  Government,  and 
the  Indians  had  killed  several  frontiersmen,  though,  as 
far  as  he  knew,  my  ranch  had  not  been  raided. 

I  stayed  only  two  days  in  San  Antonio  settling  up 
important  business,  chief  of  which  was  paying  most  of 
my  debts,  and  then,  with  scarce  a  dollar  left  in  my  pocket, 
set  out  to  ride  home  by  myself.  Not  in  the  best  of 
spirits  either,  as  may  be  imagined  ;  for  I  had  lost  five 
precious  months  of  time,  and  many  dollars,  in  my  at 
tempt  to  make  a  small  pile  for  my  homeward  trip  ;  and 
now  that  was  impossible  and  out  of  the  question.  But 
as  I  rode  along  trying  to  make  up  my  mind  as  to  what 
I  would  do,  a  sudden  resolve  came  to  me.  I  wouldn't 
give  up,  but  have  one  more  try  for  a  sight  of  the  old 
home. 

I  had  met  several  prominent  Mexicans  in  San  Antonio, 
who  had  left  their  native  country  for  reasons  not  al 
together  unconnected  with  the  safety  of  their  necks, 
and  amongst  them  a  General  Ortega,  who  said  he  was 
de  jure  President  of  the  Republic,  only  the  con 
founded  "  Liberates  "  wouldn't  let  him  assume  office. 
President,  or  not,  he  was  a  very  agreeable  man,  and  I 
had  had  a  good  deal  of  talk  with  him  at  Jacques'  Hotel, 
when  he  told  me  amongst  other  things  that  cattle  were 
selling  well  in  Mexico,  and  that  at  Monterey,  which 
was  within  reach  from  my  ranch,  there  was  a  good 
market  for  them. 


460  A    TEXAN    RAILWAY 

That  is  what  I  would  do,  then  :  hunt  up  two  or  three 
hundred  good  steers,  if  such  could  be  found  on  the 
range,  and  drive  them  over  into  Mexico.  With  any 
luck,  I  might  still  see  old  England  before  the  summer 
was  over.  It  was  seven  years  since  I  had  seen  its 
green  fields  and  pleasant,  peaceful  homesteads,  and 
the  longing  for  a  sight  of  them,  and  of  some  of  the  folks 
that  dwelt  therein,  was  not  to  be  restrained. 


CHAPTER    VII 

CATTLE    IN    SMALL   COMPASS 

IT  was  good  to  be  on  horseback  once  more,  after  the 
lumbering,  jolting  train  and  swaying  stage,  and  I  re 
solved  that,  as  long  as  I  was  in  Texas,  I  would  travel 
no  other  way. 

I  had  a  touch  of  fever  on  me,  which  I  suppose  I 
had  picked  up  at  Indianola,  which  is  a  very  feverish 
place,  so  had  to  make  short  stages,  impatient  as  I  was 
to  get  back  to  the  ranch,  and  it  was  not  until  noon  of 
the  third  day  out  from  San  Antonio  that  I  rode  up 
to  the  door  of  my  own  place.  There  I  found  my  friend 
John  Vinton,  who  had  been  left  in  charge  during  my 
absence,  and  his  elder  brother  Jaque ;  the  latter  I 
now  met  for  the  first  time,  and  took  to  him  at  sight, 
forming  an  opinion  of  him  which  later  on  he  justified 
in  every  way. 

Every  one  was  surprised  at  my  arrival,  for  they  didn't 
even  know  I  was  back  in  Texas,  and  had  had  no  news 
of  me  since  my  hands  and  I  parted  on  the  borders  of 
Louisiana.  That  night  the  brothers  and  I  sat  long 
over  our  pipes,  and  I  heard  all  the  news  of  the  frontier  ; 
who  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  whose  horses 
had  been  stolen  by  them  and  by  the  Mexican  thieves. 
It  was  a  long  list,  but  again  my  ranch  had  escaped  with 
small  loss,  only  one  horse  having  been  taken. 

The  season  had  been  very  dry  on  the  Frio,  and  my 
cattle  on  the  home  range  were  in  poor  order  ;  nor  had 
Master  Jack  Vinton  looked  after  them  particularly  well, 
as  I  found  as  soon  as  I  was  well  enough  to  ride  round. 

4G1 


462  CATTLE    IN    SMALL    COMPASS 

Amongst  my  possessions  I  had  a  fine  herd  of  goats, 
which  should  have  been  corralled  at  night ;  this  had 
been  neglected,  and  the  lobos  and  coyotes  had  pretty 
well  finished  them  off.  Vinton  hadn't  taken  the  trouble 
to  poison  or  hunt  these  vermin,  and  they  were 
thick  all  over  the  range,  enjoying  themselves,  no  doubt, 
mightily  at  my  expense. 

Immediately  after  my  return  I  sent  word  to  Dan 
Lemmons,  who  was  herding  a  big  bunch  of  beeves  for 
me  west  of  the  Nueces  River,  to  bring  over  all  that  were 
fit  for  market. 

After  a  week's  rest,  and  a  good  dosing  with  quinine, 
I  was  fit  for  work  once  more,  and  with  the  Vintons  and 
all  the  vaqueros  that  could  be  spared  set  out  for  a 
cattle-hunt  on  the  Carisa  Creek,  to  get  the  remnant  of 
the  fine  beeves  I  had  left  behind  the  previous  fall.  If  I 
was  to  have  a  chance  of  seeing  old  England  this  coming 
summer,  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost ;  for  I  reckoned 
it  would  take  me  a  month  to  six  weeks  to  get  together 
the  cattle  I  wanted  ;  and  then  Monterey  was  a  good 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away,  as  the  crow  flies. 

In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  fully  described  a  cattle- 
drive  in  this  very  region,  so  do  not  propose  to  give  any 
details  of  this  one,  which,  except  for  a  bit  of  a  brush 
with  a  small  band  of  Comanches,  was  uneventful.  This 
happened  near  the  spot  where  they  so  nearly  got  me 
the  year  before.  We  had  seen  their  sign  in  the 
neighbourhood,  so  were  on  the  look-out  for  midnight 
marauders,  and  when  they  tried  to  stampede  our 
horses,  which  were  picketed  close  to  camp,  we  treated 
them  to  a  volley  from  our  five  rifles.  It  was  a  dark, 
moonless  night,  and  we  couldn't  see  the  result,  especially 
as  the  "  vermin  "  cleared  out  in  double-quick  time,  but 
the  sign  revealed  by  the  morning  light  showed  that 
one  at  least  had  been  badly  wounded,  if  not  killed. 

By  the  third  week  in  March  we  had  got  together 
280  good  cattle,  but  it  was  real  hard  work  to  do  it, 


A    FEUD    AND    ITS    END  463 

and  all  hands  were  in  need  of  rest  before  starting  on 
the  long  drive  into  Mexico  ;  consequently,  it  was  the 
31st  of  the  month  before  we  got  under  weigh.  Every 
thing  had  been  prepared  overnight,  and  by  daybreak 
on  that  day  the  cavalcade  of  five  white  men  and  six 
vaqueros,  all  mounted  on  fresh  horses,  and  leading  a 
spare  one  for  each  man,  set  out,  steering  a  south-west 
course  across  the  prairie  for  the  Presidio  crossing  of  the 
Rio  Grande. 

We  went  well  armed,  of  course,  with  rifles  and  six- 
shooters,  for  it  was  the  season  for  Indian  raids,  or  we 
might  have  trouble  with  Mexican  guerillas  over  the 
border.  But  we  saw  no  Indians,  though  we  crossed  the 
trail  of  a  big  band  passing  up  country  with  a  lot  of 
horses  ;  and  in  Mexico  no  one  molested  us,  so  that 
we  reached  Monterey  on  April  22  without  incident  worth 
recording. 

I  almost  forgot  to  mention  a  piece  of  news  we  heard 
on  the  Leona,  where  we  camped  en  route  to  the  Carisa. 
It  was  a  common  enough  incident  of  the  frontier  in 
those  lawless  days,  but  it  shows  how  uncertain  life  was 
there,  and  both  actors  in  the  tragedy  were  well  known 
to  me.  John  Hill  was  a  large  stockman  on  the  Leona, 
and  a  former  member  of  my  Ranger  Company.  He  had 
a  long-standing  feud  with  John  Burleson,  a  rancher  on 
the  Espantosa,  about  some  trifling  matter  which  I  have 
forgotten.  Hill  was  a  splendid  shot  and  especially 
deadly  with  his  six-shooter,  and  it  was  always  thought 
he  would  kill  Burleson  sooner  or  later,  if  the  quarrel 
wasn't  patched  up.  As  it  turned  out,  it  was  the  former 
who  was  doomed. 

The  two  men  met  on  the  trail  to  San  Antonio  the 
evening  before  our  arrival  and  not  a  mile  from  where 
we  camped  on  the  Leona.  The  quarrel  was  renewed  ; 
hot  words  passed,  and  then  both  men  drew  their  six- 
shooters. 

Burleson  was  quickest  with  his  weapon,  and  hit  poor 


464  CATTLE    IN    SMALL    COMPASS 

Hill  full  in  the  chest,  then  turned  his  horse  and  fled 
for  his  life.  Both  men  had  fired  together,  but  Hill's 
first  shot  only  grazed  his  enemy's  arm.  Now,  sorely 
wounded  as  he  was,  he  steadied  himself  for  a  moment, 
and,  taking  a  deliberate  aim  across  his  left  arm,  sent 
a  bullet  through  Burleson's  shoulder,  high  up  ;  then 
reeled  from  his  horse,  and,  two  hours  later,  was  found 
dead  on  the  prairie.  Burleson  fled  into  Mexico,  for 
fear  of  Hill's  friends,  who  were  many,  and  was  no  more 
seen  in  Texas,  at  least  during  my  stay  there. 

Monterey  was  a  good-sized  town  in  the  days  of  which 
I  write,  and,  being  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Nuevo 
Leon,  was  a  fairly  busy  place  ;  it  was  also  occupied  by 
a  considerable  body  of  troops  of  the  "  Liberal  "  faction. 
But,  like  most  Mexican  towns  that  I  have  seen,  it  had 
a  slipshod,  poverty-stricken  appearance ;  the  streets 
were  of  course  "  cobble  "  paved,  with  the  usual  sewer 
running  down  the  middle  ;  the  shops  were  few  and  ill- 
furnished,  and  there  was  an  air  of  general  listlessness 
peculiarly  characteristic  of  a  Spanish- American  town. 
Indeed,  I  think  the  only  really  active  inhabitants  of 
the  place  were  the  fleas  and  bugs  in  the  posada  at  which 
we  put  up,  and  they  certainly  were  energetic  and  un 
tiring  ! 

The  deal  for  my  cattle  was  a  long  one,  but  by  the 
end  of  the  month  I  had  got  rid  of  the  last  lot.  The 
prices  varied,  of  course,  but  the  average  realised  was 
$23  a  head,  in  hard  cash,  no  paper  !  And,  with  a  lighter 
heart  than  I  had  carried  for  many  a  day,  I  set  out, 
with  my  little  retinue,  on  the  homeward  journey  on  the 
morning  of  May  1. 

With  my  hard  cash  safely  fastened  on  my  led  horse, 
I  felt  as  though  "  home  "  was  not  so  far  off  after  all, 
for,  after  a  brief  halt  at  the  ranch,  I  meant  to  start 
for  that  goal  of  all  my  hopes  and  longings.  It  was  a 
ticklish  job  riding  through  that  disturbed  country  with 
all  that  solid  specie,  and  though  we  got  through  without 


JOHN   VINTON   IN  CHARGE  t«,r, 

any  adventures,  it  was  a  great  relief  when  we  reached 
the  ranch  in  safety  on  the  eleventh  of  the  month.  Arrived 
there,  another  difficulty  presented  itself,  for  I  had  no 
safe,  or  other  secure  lock-up,  in  which  to  place  my 
money.  So  I  e'en  buried  it  at  dead  of  night  in  the 
chaparral  at  the  back  of  the  ranch  ! 

Five  days  I  stayed  at  the  ranch,  and  then,  having 
arranged  with  John  Vinton  to  take  charge  of  every 
thing  for  me  during  my  absence,  which  probably  would 
extend  over  many  months,  started  for  San  Antonio, 
en  route  for  Indianola,  with  Lemmons  and  a  couple  of 
vaqueros  as  escort  for  the  specie. 

Vinton's  remuneration  was  to  be  one-fourth  of  all 
the  calves  he  branded,  and  $1  per  head  on  all  the  beeves 
he  sold  ;  the  proceeds  of  sales,  after  deducting  current 
expenses,  such  as  wages,  etc.,  to  be  remitted  to  me 
through  my  agents  in  San  Antonio.  At  San  Antonio 
I  changed  the  bulk  of  my  specie  into  a  draft  on  Messrs. 
Spofforth  Brothers,  a  firm  of  leading  merchants  in 
New  York  who  had  large  business  connections  in  Texas, 
and  with  whom  I  had  subsequently  very  pleasant  re 
lations. 

It  was  a  ride  of  nearly  one  hundred  miles  to  Indianola, 
but  I  had  had  enough  of  lumbering  stage  coaches  and 
"  tight  "  railways,  and  therefore  preferred  to  do  the 
journey  on  horseback.  At  Indianola,  after  selling  my 
horse  and  kit,  I  took  passage  to  New  Orleans ;  and 
thence,  after  a  brief  stay,  for  yellow  fever  was  raging 
in  the  city,  sailed  in  one  of  the  Houston  Line  steamers 
for  New  York. 

The  first  week  in  June  saw  me  on  board  a  fine  Ham 
burg-American  steamer,  bound  for  Southampton,  and 
I  felt  really  and  truly  as  though  I  was  going  home  at 
last !  Perhaps  to  a  man  used  to  club  life  in  London  or 
New  York,  a  fine  passage  in  a  vessel  like  that  may  seem 
hardship,  but  to  me,  after  my  seven  years  of  real  roughing 
and  often  short  commons,  it  appeared  the  very  acme  of 

30 


466  CATTLE    IN   SMALL    COMPASS 

luxury.  Nothing  to  do  but  to  eat,  drink,  and  enjoy 
yourself  !  And  what  enjoyment  it  was  to  sit  lazily 
on  deck  under  the  awning  and  watch  the  ever  vary 
ing,  sunlit  waves,  and  think  that  every  beat  of  the 
paddles  was  bringing  me  nearer  "  the  haven  where  I 
would  be  "  ! 

It  was  mid-June  when  we  landed  at  Southampton 
on  a  perfect  summer  morning  such  as,  when  you  get  it, 
makes  mere  existence  a  delight,  and  you  are  content 
"  not  to  be  doing,  but  to  be."  I  maintain  that  for 
richness,  and  green  luxuriance,  there  is  nothing  like 
the  dear  old  country  in  full  summer.  Why,  the  very 
trim,  green  hedges  and  leafy  woodlands  are  a  delight 
to  eyes  that  have  longed  for  a  sight  of  them  for  years, 
and  the  banished  man  is  almost  repaid  for  his  banish 
ment  when  once  he  looks  upon  them  again.  So  we 
sped  through  that  summer  scene  of  fairyland  in  the 
prosaic  London  express,  whilst  I  sat  silent  and  absorbed, 
scarcely  taking  my  eyes  off  it  till  we  rattled  into  London, 
and  the  spell  was  broken. 

That  evening  I  was  at  the  old  vicarage  home  once  more, 
and  in  that  quiet  resting-place,  and  amongst  my  dearest 
friends,  my  wanderings  and  hardships  were  forgotten, 
and  I  was  happy  and  content. 

When  I  left  Texas  I  had  it  in  my  mind  to  return  by 
the  end  of  the  year,  but  it  was  not  till  the  spring  of 
1867  that  I  turned  my  face  westwards  once  more,  and 
for  the  last  time.  By  that  time  I  was  married,  and 
though  my  wife  was  plucky  enough  to  wish  to  go  out 
with  me,  there  were  many  good  reasons  why  she  should 
not.  So  early  in  April  we  parted,  and  I  crossed  the 
Atlantic  again,  intending  to  wind  up  my  affairs  and 
return  in  a  few  months  to  settle  down  in  England  for 
good. 

In  the  previous  August  I  had  received  rather  startling 
news  from  Jaque  Vinton,  who  wrote  from  my  ranch  to 


MR.    SPOFFORTH'S    PROPOSAL  467 

tell  me  that  his  brother  John  had  betrayed  his  trust, 
and  gone  off  no  one  knew  whither  ;  that  he  thought  he 
had  been  gambling,  to  which  he  was  much  given,  and 
had  made  awray  with  some  of  my  property.  That  he 
(Jaque)  had  gone  out  to  the  Frio,  as  soon  as  he  knew  of 
his  brother's  absence,  and  was  looking  after  things  for 
me,  and  would  continue  to  do  so  till  he  received  my  in 
structions.  I  had  at  once  replied  that  I  was  much  in 
debted  to  him,  and  should  be  very  glad  if  he  could  see 
his  way  to  remain  in  charge  till  my  return.  He  did 
remain,  and  looked  after  my  interests  as  if  they  had 
been  his  own  ;  and  in  all  our  subsequent  transactions 
proved  himself  the  honourable,  upright  man  I  took  him 
to  be. 

Though  I  went  out  with  the  full  intention  of  selling  out 
my  stock  and  property  in  Texas,  the  puzzle  was  how 
to  do  it  without  ruinous  loss,  for  business  there  was  at 
the  lowest  ebb,  and  no  one  seemed  to  have  any  money 
to  invest,  or  if  they  had,  deemed  it  prudent  to  place 
it  where  life  and  property  were  more  secure. 

At  New  York  I  asked  my  friend  Mr.  Spofforth's  advice, 
and  he  counselled  me  very  strongly  to  remain  in  Texas, 
the  possibilities  of  which  as  a  stock  country  he  was  well 
acquainted  with.  He  even  reverted  to  a  scheme  I  had 
propounded  to  him  on  my  former  visit,  viz.  to  take  up 
a  big  block  of  land  on  the  coast  between  Galveston  and 
Matagorda,  and  offered  to  finance  me  in  a  large  cattle- 
raising  business  on  that  spot.  It  certainly  was  an  ideal 
one  for  the  purpose,  being  a  peninsula  containing  some 
twenty  leagues  of  good  grasslands,  with  a  narrow  neck 
at  the  land  end  that  could  be  easily  fenced.  It  was 
a  most  tempting  offer,  and  if  I  could  have  seen  my  way 
to  make  a  home  in  Texas,  I  would  gladly  have  accepted 
it — but  that  was  out  of  the  question. 

Finding  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  clear  out,  my 
friend  then  advised  me  to  drive  my  stock  up  into  Missouri 
and  Illinois,  where  prices  were  high,  though  he  added 


468  CATTLE    IN   SMALL   COMPASS 

he  had  heard  a  rumour  that  the  State  Legislatures  were 
threatening  to  prohibit  the  import  of  Texan  cattle,  on 
the  pretence  that  there  was  disease  amongst  them,  but 
really  to  protect  their  own  stockraisers,  who  feared 
competition.  I  thought  the  idea  a  good  one,  and  started 
at  once  for  Cairo  in  Illinois  to  see  how  the  land  lay.  I 
soon  discovered  that  the  report  was  well  founded,  and 
that  the  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  of  prohibition 
just  before  I  arrived.  I  then  tried  to  get  special  per 
mission  for  my  own  cattle,  under  stringent  conditions 
of  examination,  but  without  success,  and  so  had  to  wend 
my  way  back  to  Texas  by  devious  railway  routes,  via 
New  Orleans,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Indianola,  in 
great  disappointment. 

At  that  place  I  met  a  Doctor  Hughes,  who  had  been 
surgeon  to  the  U.S.  troops  quartered  there,  after  its 
capture  by  the  Yankees.  Though  we  were  as  far  asunder 
as  the  poles  in  politics,  I  found  him  a  very  "  clever  " 
fellow,  which,  being  interpreted,  means  pleasant,  or 
genial  ;  moreover  he  was  a  smart,  enterprising  man  of 
business,  with  a  fair  amount  of  capital  at  his  command. 

Though  we  had  never  met  before,  I  believe  I  was 
known  to  him  by  reputation  ;  so  when  I  propounded  to 
him  a  scheme  for  turning  my  cattle  into  salt  beef  and 
extract  of  meat,  which  had  been  floating  in  my  mind  for 
some  time,  he  listened  very  favourably,  and  presently 
agreed  to  join  me  in  the  venture.  People  do  things 
quickly  in  those  parts,  so  by  the  middle  of  May  we  had 
settled  terms  of  partnership  under  which  Hughes  was 
to  provide  the  bulk  of  the  capital,  and  I  the  beeves  ; 
profits  to  be  divided  equally.  We  had  also  secured 
premises  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  had  ordered 
hundreds  of  barrels,  salt,  and  all  necessary  appliances 
for  the  extensive  business  we  hoped  to  start  as  soon 
as  I  could  get  the  first  drove  of  cattle  down  to  the 
coast. 

Everything  then  being  arranged,  I  started  off  to  the 


YELLOW    JACK  469 

ranch  to  hunt  up  the  cattle,  which  I  hoped  to  drive  down 
some  time  in  July. 

I  found  my  friend  Jaque  a  great  improvement  on  his 
brother  John,  for  he  had  looked  after  the  stock  properly, 
and  had  branded  a  rare  lot  of  calves,  whilst  their  enemies, 
the  lobos  and  coyotes,  had  had  a  bad  time  of  it.  With 
him,  and  half  a  dozen  vaqueros,  I  went  all  over  the 
whole  of  the  extensive  district  over  which  my  cattle 
ranged,  and  found  I  could  reckon  on  nearly  fifteen 
hundred  in  good  condition,  and  fit  to  kill. 

Then  we  set  to  work  to  gather  the  first  drove  for 
Indianola,  and  by  the  middle  of  June  had  nearly  two 
hundred  first-class  beeves  penned  in  the  corrals.  We 
were  just  ready  to  start  with  these  when  I  received  a 
message  from  Hughes  that  the  worst  epidemic  of  yellow 
fever  they  had  had  in  Tndianola  for  many  years  had 
broken  out ;  that  everybody  who  could  get  away,  even 
the  negroes,  were  leaving  the  place,  and  that  business 
was  entirely  at  a  standstill.  Under  these  conditions, 
of  course  the  packing  had  to  be  put  off  till  the  fever 
abated,  which  probably  would  not  be  till  the  autumn, 
and  I  at  once  turned  out  the  drove  I  had  so  laboriously 
collected. 

Hughes  wrote  that  he  had  sent  his  family  away,  but 
was  remaining  on  himself,  because  doctors  were  scarce 
and  his  duty  was  to  look  after  the  sick.  He  would  keep 
an  eye  on  our  property  and  stores,  and  as  I  could  do  no 
good  in  Indianola,  I  had  best  remain  at  the  ranch.  This 
I  did  till  nearly  the  middle  of  July,  and  then,  not  having 
received  any  tidings  from  Indianola  for  some  weeks, 
went  dowrn  to  see  how  Hughes  was  getting  on.  I  can't 
say  he  was  very  pleased  to  see  me,  for  his  first  greeting 
was,  "  Why  in  creation  have  you  come  to  this  tarnation 
fever  hole,  where  there's  nothing  for  you  to  do  ?  " 

Notwithstanding  this,  I  believe  he  really  was  glad  to 
see  me,  though  he  urged  me  to  clear  out  as  soon  as 
possible.  "  I'm  well  used  to  Yellow  Jack,"  he  said, 


470  CATTLE    IN    SMALL    COMPASS 

"  and  it  takes  a  powerful  lot  of  it  to  kill  me,  but  I  don't 
want  to  lose  my  partner."  I  stayed  only  a  few  days, 
but  long  enough  to  see  what  a  noble  work  he  was  doing 
amongst  the  scores  of  sick  he  attended  with  a  devotion 
worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  his  profession. 

In  this  he  was  ably  seconded  by  a  confrere,  who  had 
served  as  surgeon  to  a  regiment  of  Texan  cavalry, 
Sam  Slocum  by  name.  He  was  a  bachelor,  and  lived 
with  his  mother,  a  good  old  lady  who  was  a  strong 
Methodist.  Mother  and  son  were  devoted  to  each  other, 
though  it  must  be  confessed  that  she  ruled  Master 
Samuel  rather  strictly,  for  his  good,  or  tried  to  do  so. 
To  this  he  submitted  with  a  tolerably  good  grace,  as 
a  rule,  though  in  moments  of  confidence  he  would  some 
times  complain  to  a  friend,  "  My  Ma  is  such  an  almighty 
Christian  !  " 

It  was  hoped  that  the  worst  of  the  fever  would  be 
over  by  the  middle  of  September,  and  I  returned  to  the 
ranch  promising  to  have  a  drove  of  cattle  ready  by 
that  time,  Hughes  undertaking  to  let  me  know  how 
things  progressed  as  often  as  he  could.  That  month 
of  August  I  spent  on  the  Frio,  where  the  monotony  of 
existence  was  at  times  broken  by  Indian  raids,  of  the 
same  character  I  have  so  often  previously  described 
that  it  would  be  wearisome  to  give  further  details. 

By  the  end  of  the  month  the  news  came  that  the 
epidemic  was  rapidly  dying  out,  and  I  immediately  sent 
off  the  first  bunch  of  cattle  with  Dan  Lemmons  in  charge. 
On  September  12  Hughes  wrote  that  he  expected  to 
begin  packing  in  a  week's  time,  and  that  he  would  want 
two  hundred  more  beeves  by  October  15  ;  another  two 
hundred  by  November  5,  and  after  November  20  they 
might  come  as  fast  as  I  could  get  them  down.  I  had 
collected  a  large  staff  of  vaqueros,  and  engaged  several 
Texan  cattlemen  as  well,  and  now  all  were  hard  at  work 
driving  up  the  beeves  from  far  and  near. 

Having    arranged    with    Jaque    Vinton    to    send    me 


BEEF-PACKING    DOESN'T    PAY  471 

down  batches  of  cattle  as  required,  I  went  down  with 
the  next  drove  myself,  and,  except  for  one  or  two  visits 
to  the  ranch,  remained  at  Indianola  all  that  packing 
season.  It  was  disagreeable,  nasty  work  superintending 
the  doings  of  the  niggers  in  the  slaughter-houses,  but 
it  had  to  be  done  by  some  one,  and  I  took  care  that  it 
was  well  and  properly  carried  out. 

The  extract-of-meat  business  was  my  friend  Hughes's 
department,  and  he  turned  out  some  excellent  stuff, 
much  like  that  which  to-day  meets  with  such  a  ready 
sale  all  over  the  world.  But  in  those  days  such  pre 
parations  had  not  been  popularised  ;  the  demand  for 
them  was  comparatively  small  and  the  market  restricted, 
so  it  was  not  financially  a  success.  Early  in  November 
the  following  entry  appears  in  my  diary  :  "  My  first 
droves  of  beeves  are  in  barrels  ;  some  of  them  are  al 
ready  travelling  in  that  snug  shape  to  New  Orleans  ; 
others  visit  Galveston,  and  again  others  have  to-day 
taken  berths  for  New  York,  whilst  a  few  favoured  ones 
will  in  a  day  or  two's  time  start  for  London.  It  remains 
to  be  seen  how  they  will  account  for  themselves.  Well, 
I  trust,  for  the  first  outlay  is  enormous." 

I  may  as  well  say  at  once  that  they  did  not  account 
for  themselves  at  all  well,  for  when  we  had  packed  and 
"  extracted  "  some  twelve  hundred  of  my  best  cattle, 
the  pick  of  the  range,  we  found  we  were  losing  money, 
and  so  dropped  the  business.  Prime  salt  beef,  such  as 
we  shipped,  was  worth  only  $9  a  barrel ;  salted  tongues 
$10  per  barrel,  and  as  to  the  extract,  the  most  expensive 
of  all,  we  could  hardly  give  it  away  !  The  speculation 
was  a  failure,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1868  I  went  back 
to  the  ranch  to  make  arrangements  for  getting  rid  of  it 
altogether. 

How  to  do  so,  on  anything  like  remunerative  terms, 
was  the  puzzle  that  exercised  me  greatly,  and  it  was 
therefore  a  great  relief  to  my  mind  when  Jaque  Vinton 
proposed  to  take  it  off  my  hands,  and  to  pay  for  horses, 


472  CATTLE    IN    SMALL    COMPASS 

cattle,  ranch,  and  everything  I  had,  by  instalments  of 
so  much  per  annum.  This  being  settled  by  the  end  of 
May,  I  handed  over  everything  to  Jaque,  and  he  and  I 
rode  down  to  San  Antonio,  to  give  and  receive  the 
legal  transfer  of  the  property. 

There  we  spent  a  week  together,  whilst  I  wound  up 
my  affairs  and  said  a  last  good-bye  to  many  old  friends 
and  comrades.  Then  we  parted,  never  to  meet  again, 
though  we  had  much  correspondence  for  some  years, 
during  which  he  loyally  and  honourably  fulfilled  his 
engagements  with  me. 

So  the  page  of  my  life  that  I  had  opened  in  Virginia 
in  1852,  little  dreaming  of  the  wild  scenes  with  which 
it  would  be  inscribed,  was  closed  for  ever,  and  I  ex 
changed  the  risk  and  stir  of  the  Far  West  for  the  peace 
and  quietness  of  a  happy  English  country  life. 

It  was  in  July  1868  that  I  finally  returned  home ; 
and  now,  looking  back  through  the  mists  of  thirty-six 
years  on  the  scenes  I  have  attempted  to  depict,  they 
seem  almost  like  the  phantoms  of  a  dream.  But  they 
were  real  enough  in  the  enacting,  and,  as  I  sit  by  my 
fireside  and  recall  the  memories  of  the  past,  I  am  filled 
with  thankfulness  that  I  am  alive  to  tell  the  tale,  which 
may  be  of  interest  to  those  who  come  after  me  ;  since 
in  these  latter  days  the  world's  boundaries  have  grown 
narrow,  life  is  more  or  less  stereotyped,  and  the  dramas 
I  witnessed  in  Virginia,  Kansas,  and  Texas  can  never  be 
re-enacted. 


INDEX 


Adams,   Mr.,  and  the  backwoods 

schoolmaster,  300 
America :      fifty    years    ago,     3  ; 

railway  travelling  in,  137,  138 
Antonio,  the  Mexican,  272,  273 
Atchison,  General  Davy,  83 

Baily,  George,  of  the  Bluestone, 

24-9 

Banks,  "  Commissary,"  363 
Bathing,  primitive,  in  Medina,  177 
Bear  story,  56 
Brig,   Yankee,   wreck  of,   in   Rio 

Grande,  283 

Brownsville,  277,  279,  281,  282 
"  Buck  ague,"  55 
Buffalo,  77,  127,  128 
"  Buffalo  Bill,"  105 
Burnett      of      Princeton,     41-43, 

50 

Cacti :  riding  through,  330  ;  lame 
horses  and  cattle,  353 

Camp  Meeting,   34 

Canal  passenger-boat,   7 

Cattle :  driving  and  dealing  in 
Virginia,  52  ;  sounds  round  the 
corrals,  217-19  ;  driving,  224-6  ; 
bowled  over  by  a  steer,  317  ; 
sufferings  on  the  march,  354  ; 
driving  on  the  Carisa,  411,  412, 
420-26;  to  San  Juan,  427; 
to  New  Orleans,  438  ;  stam 
pede,  439 ;  sell  out,  444 ; 
drive  to  Monterey,  463 ;  dis 
pose  of  ranch,  472 

Church  building,  38 

Cleaveland,  Mayor  of  San  An 
tonio,  406 


Cline,  the  shooting  of,  98-101  ; 
his  return  to  Leavenworth  City, 
133 

Cody,  Colonel  William,  or  "  Buf 
falo  Bill,"  express  rider,  105 
Comanches  :  doings  in  Guada- 
loup£,  167,  168  ;  brush  with, 
168-71  ;  in  Atacosa  country, 
fight  with,  190-94  ;  their  favour 
ite  formation,  193  ;  Reeders 
and  two  sons  killed  by,  211, 
212 ;  narrow  escape  at  Frio 
Crossing,  255-7  ;  paintings, 
326;  Westfall  on  the  trail  of, 
329-31;  we  hold  a  "  rnott  " 
on  Pecos  against,  332-5  ;  store 
house,  351  ;  the  race  for  the 
"mott,"  374,  375;  Jake  Hill- 
son's  good  shot,  376 ;  besiege 
Rheeder's  ranch,  378  ;  twenty- 
five  Rangers  to  the  rescue,  378  ; 
how  we  took  it,  379-82  ;  kill 
Dan  Williams'  cousin,  397  ; 
Dan's  rashness,  398  ;  mournful 
return,  403  ;  narrow  escape  on 
Carisa  Creek,  412-14  ;  fruitless 
pursuit  of,  415,  416  ;  they  at 
tack  trading  party,  417  ;  young 
Norman's  story,  417  ;  the 
plundered  "  prairie  schooner," 
418  ;  the  last  shot,  462 

Confederate  States  :  paper-money, 
depreciation  of,  286,  311 

Constable,  a  pot  valiant,  99 

Corpus  Christ i,  visit  to,  152 

Cosgrove,   107 

Davis,  lawyer  of  Corpus  Christi, 
153  ;        raises       regiment       of 


473 


474 


INDEX 


Southern  deserters,  292 ;  we 
meet  again,  297  ;  and  finally, 
298 

"  Deer-lick,"  the,    16 

Deer  :  pet,  203  ;  black-tailed,  on 
Rio  Grande,  357 

Delaware  chiefs,  the,  "  Johnny 
Coke,"  74;  "  Bullbone,"  78; 
reserve  proclaimed  for  sale,  93 

Deserters,  274 ;  their  release, 
275  ;  party  near  Beaver  Lake, 
343 ;  pursuit  and  surrender, 
343-5  ;  their  escape,  352,  359 

Diaz,  President,  427 

Dodd,  Dr.,  270 

Dunn,  Captain  of  Partizan 
Bangers :  Provost,  235-7  ;  at 
tempt  to  get  rid  of  him,  258-60  ; 
fooled  by  him,  260-61,  263  ;  at 
Brownsville,  287-9  ;  his  friend 
Vidal,  story  of,  289-92 

Euston,  Major,  the  fighting 
Editor,  75 

Federals  :  mistrust  of,  by  South, 
404  ;  their  surprising  clemency 
after  victory,  405,  407  ;  their 
General  in  San  Antonio,  406  ; 
offers  a  commission,  409 ;  on 
tour  of  frontier,  409 

Forest  aisles,  29 

—  fire,  ride  through,  44 
Fort  Hudson,  ruins  of,  328 

—  Lancaster,     halt     near,     348 ; 
Californians  at,  363 

— Leaven  worth,  73 

—  Riley,  trip  to,  77 

Franks,  Colonel,  364;  "Old 
Rip,"  365 

Freedmen,  conduct  of,  440 

French,  landowner,  8  ;  his  forest 
lands,  9  ;  some  of  his  settlers, 
10 ;  murder  of  two  cattle- 
dealers,  383-4  ;  hanged,  385  ; 
his  sons,  Jim  and  Dick,  383, 
385-91  ;  scene  at  Atacosa 
Court  House,  390-92 

Friodricksburg,     second     expedi 


tion  to,  235-7  ;  march  thence 
after  Bushwhackers,  237-44 ; 
our  officers,  244  ;  night  attack 
on  Germans,  246-8  ;  murder  of 
wounded,  249-50  ;  Major  Ro 
berts'  doings  at,  407,  408 
Frio  ranch,  the :  first  visit  to, 
184-90;  second  visit,  200; 
Christmas  on  the,  206 ;  col 
lecting  cattle  at,  for  Mexico, 
462  ;  start  for  Monterey,  463  ; 
hand  over  to  John  Vinton,  and 
start  for  home,  465  ;  dispose 
of,  to  Jaque  Vinton,  472 

Galliers,  Jack,  the  Navvy,  5, 
7,  15,  18,  20,  30,  33,  48 

Gamblers  rule  at  Leavenworth 
City,  75  ;  all  "  Sound  on  the 
Goose,"  or  pro-Slavery  men,  75 

Garcia :  Juan,  vaquero  ;  de 
scription  of,  183,  184  ;  Don 
Immanuel,  Alcalde  of  San  Juan , 
426 ;  his  "  venta,"  431  ;  ar 
rival  of  Partido,  434  ;  Gutier 
rez,  Don  Manuel,  435 ;  his 
entertainment,  436 

Gordon,  murderers  of,  67-9 

Grant,  General,  404 

Green,  "  Daddy,"  his  gallant 
charge,  179 

Hanging,     narrow    escape    from, 

89-92 

Hatch,  Major :    long  scout  with , 
324  ;    wild-goose  chase  to  Fort 
Lancaster,  325  ;    wants  to  hang 
deserters,  345,  346,  354  ;    part 
company  with,  359-62 
Hendricks,  Margaret,   130-33 
Herbert,  General,  233,  234 
Herndon,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  36,  49,  59 
Hogs,    445  ;     buying    in    Eastern 
Texas,  446-8  ;    contrariness  of, 
446-8  ;      miseries     of     driving, 
449  ;    market,  heavy  loss,  450- 
52 

Hood,  General,  212,  213  ;  his  gal 
lant  deed  at  Games'  Mill,  213-16 


INDEX 


475 


Horses,  21,  31  ;  horses  stray,  155  ; 
recovered  by  Mexican  vaque>o, 
156  ;  horse-stealers  from  Mexi 
co,  221 

Houston,  ex-Governor,  his  slaves, 
142 

Howard,  "  Colonel,"  67 

Hughes,  Dr.,  of  Indianola,  468  ; 
fights  yellow  fever,  469,  470 

Hunter,  Major  :  in  command  of 
Fort  Lancaster  expedition,  364  ; 
join  him  at  Dhanis,  366 ; 
strength  of  forces,  366  ;  recon 
naissance,  and  plan  of  attack, 
367-9 ;  disposition  of  force, 
369  ;  rout  of  enemy,  370-72 

Hunting  :  "  still,"  on  Bluestone, 
39  ;  general  description  of,  in 
Virginia,  54 ;  on  the  Frio, 
206-10  ;  line  sport,  321,  322 

Indianola,   148,   149 

Johns,  312,  314 

Johnson,  Colonel  Sydney,  204 

Kansas :     the    start    for,    59-63  ; 
Cincinnati     to     St.     Louis     by 
road,  63  ;    political  excitement, 
79-82  ;    U.S.  Government  stop 
"  war  "  hi,  92  ;  preparations  for 
leaving,     134,     135  ;     hurriedly 
revisited,  139,  140 
Keans,  the,  at  Now  Orleans,  452 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  160 

Lavacca,  Texas,  boasts  railway 
to  Victoria,  455  ;  a  remarkable 
road,  and  drunken  "  engineer," 
457  ;  the  lost  engine,  458 

Lawrence,  sack  of,  85,  86 

Leavenworth  "  City,"  75 

Lee,  General  :  meeting  with,  161, 
162  ;  shut  up  in  Petersburg  ; 
despondency  of  South,  395  ; 
surrenders  to  General  Grant, 
404  ;  proclamation  to  army,  405 

Logging,  32 

Luck,  Lieutenant :  his  antece 
dents,  244  ;  murders  wounded 


prisoners,    250 ;     gets    serious 
warning,  347 

Magruder,  General :    retakes  Gal- 
veston,    268  ;     a   fighting   man 
with  a  weakness,  302  ;    defeats 
"  Commissary  "  Banks,  363 
"  Major,  the,"  of  Val  Verde,  166 
Manor,    the    dog,    5  ;     stolen    at 
Cincinnati,    63  ;     recovered    at 
St.  Louis,  65 
Massachusetts      Emigrants'      Aid 

Society,  the,  84 
Matamoras,  280,  281,  309 
McCarthy,  the  Ranger,  334 
Mexican  :    vaqueros  as  horsemen, 
420  ;    border  land,  427  ;    Presi 
dent    Porfirio    Diaz,     rule     of, 
427,  428  ;    Pueblo  of  San  Juan, 
description  of,  428-30  ;  a  house 
and  its  inhabitants,  430,   431  ; 
Don  Immanuel's    "  venta,"   or 
public-house,  431,  432  ;    scenes 
in,    432,   433  ;     "  Liberalistas  " 
and     "  Los    Contraries,"     433, 
434  ;     hungry    chinchas,    434  ; 
arrival     of     Partido     at,     and 
entertainment    of,     435,     436  : 
hiding   cattle   from,    435 ;     de 
parture  of,  436  ;   "  Vaya  te  con 
Dios!"  437 
Miliner,  capture  of,  and  its  sequel 

120-24 

Miller,  A.  B.  :  boss  sportsman. 
75  ;  Captain  of  Rangers,  83  ; 
his  gambling  saloon  and  bar, 
95 

Minshul,  Asa,  head  of  Vigilance 
Committee,  199;  the  story  of 
his  rope,  200 

Minshul,  Captain,  son  of  Asa,  377 
"  Missiones "    in    Texas,    ruined, 

176 

Mississippi,  orange  groves  on,  142 
Molesby,   111-13 

Monticello,  claim  at,  101-4;  elected 
Supervisor  for,  109;  law  pro 
ceedings  anent  claim,  115-17  ; 
sold,  135 


476 


INDEX 


Mustangs :  running  with  stray 
horses  219,  220 ;  how  the 
Mexicans  break,  317 

New  Orleans :  the  "  Queen  of 
the  South,"  452 ;  condition 
after  the  war,  452 ;  Art/emus 
Ward,  the  Keans,  and  Charlotte 
Thompson  at,  452,  453  ;  ren 
contre  in  gambling  saloon, 
453-5  ;  departure  from,  455 

Newspapers  in  camp,  272  ;  war 
like  Editors  of,  311 

Noel,  Mr.,  445  ;  his  cold  comfort, 
450 ;  his  expensive  advice, 
451,  452 

Olathy  Town  :  the  bully  Cosgrove, 
107  ;   trial  of  Miliner  at,  122-4 
"  Old  Rip,"  364 
Ortega,  General,  459 

Pass,  Deadman's,  massacre  at,  327 

Paul,  T.,  Captain  of  Mounted 
Rifles,  164  ;  his  expedition  to 
Val  Verde,  165,  166;  his 
Indian  fight  in  Atacosa  country, 
190-94 

Pecos,  River  ;  a  bad  crossing,  331 

Piedra  Pinta :  Indian  paintings 
on,  325 

Piedras  Negras,  pueblo  of :  en 
counter  with  renegades  at,  315  ; 
Alcalde,  316 ;  his  cuentos 
(tales),  318 

Pigeon-roosts,  57 

Planters :  ruined  by  abolition  of 
slavery,  440  ;  curious  case  of 
Carol  Jones,  Mulatto,  441-3 

"  Prairie  schooners,"  104-6  ;  Ne 
braska,  126,  127 

Princeton,  Virginia  :  our  reception 
at,  19  ;  the  "  Court  day,"  23  ; 
kindly  folks,  25  ;  the  goal,  46 

Ragsdale,  Dan,  of  the  Frio  :  his 
ranch,  177  ;  killed  in  Louisiana, 
179 

Raid    into    Mexico,    the :     night 


march,  293,  294 ;  capture  of 
Mexican  Guard,  295 ;  com 
plete  surprise  of  Davis'  camp, 
296  ;  hanging  of  prisoners,  297  ; 
escort  him  to  Magruder's  camp, 
298  ;  excitement  in  Mexico, 
and  release  of  Davis,  298 

Railway  tickets,  61 

Randall  of  Arkansas,  lucky  meet 
ing  with,  agrees  to  buy  Medina 
ranch,  178 

Rangers  :  The  Kansas,  or  "  Border 
Ruffians,"  83,  87  ;  2nd 
Lieutenant  in,  88  ;  "  Bush 
whacking  "  and  murders  by, 
88  ;  Texan  Partizan,  226 ; 
futile  work  in,  230-33  ;  recruit 
ing  for,  265-7  ;  converted  into 
regular  cavalry,  303 ;  leave 
Dunn's  Command,  307-9  ; 
elected  Captain,  319  ;  march  to 
Lorado,  320  ;  permanent  camp 
for,  321  ;  long  scout  with,  323- 
62 ;  ordered  to  join  Major 
Hunter,  364 ;  conditions  of 
service  changed,  366 ;  dis 
banded,  408 

Regiment,  a  Nigger,  449 

Rhoda,  Aunt,  37 

Richmond,  Virginia :  taken  for 
showmen  at,  6 ;  legislative 
Hall  at,  61 

Rio  Grande  :  Mexican  name, 
"  El  Rio  Bravo,"  427 

Roberts,  Major,  407 

Russell,  "  Billy,"  the  great 
freighter,  128-30 

San  Antonio :  surrender  of,  by 
General  Twig,  162-4  ;  fray  in 
Plaza,  262 ;  return  to,  from 
New  Orleans,  459  ;  meet 
General  Ortega  at,  459 

San  Felipe,  springs  of,  326 

San  Juan,  Mexican  pueblo  of,  428- 
30;  manners  and  customs, 
428-37 

Scouting :  after  retiring  U.S. 
troops,  172,  173 ;  their  BUT- 


INDEX 


477 


render,  174  ;  with  Dan  West- 
fall,  329-42 ;  with  Mexicans, 
348-50;  with  Major  Hatch, 
353-6 ;  after  Muscalaros  In 
dians,  358 

"  Shad,"  the  claim-rusher,  97 
Shawnee  :  reserve  for  pre-emption, 
95  ;  making  claims  on,  96,  98  ; 
belles,  108  ;  stoicism,  108,  109  ; 
the  chief  Tecumsoh's  daughter, 
129 

Shoemaker,  110-11;  his  last 
good-bye,  135 

Sibley,  General ;  disastrous  march 
to  New  Mexico,  201,  202 

Sioux  Indians,  77 

Slaves  :  slavery,  abolition  of,  3  ; 
first  experience  of,  6  ;  become 
a  slave-owner,  59  ;  Seth  Wood 
ruff,  dealer  in  Lynchburg,  60  ; 
difficulty  of  moving  into  Free 
State,  61  ;  the  aristocracy  of 
owning,  64  ;  a  runaway  shot, 
74 ;  hiring  out  my  own,  76 ; 
trustworthy  Ann,  79 ;  the 
Nigger-stealer  and  his  fate, 
136,  137  ;  of  the  Mulatto, 
Carol  Jones,  441,  442 

Slocum,  Sam,  ex-Confederate  sur 
geon,  470 

South,  the  misplaced  confidence 
of,  196 

Spofforths  Brothers,  of  New  York, 
467 

Squatter  organisation,  93  ;  at 
land  auction,  94  ;  headquarters, 
hymn-singing  at,  110;  rival 
organisations  come  to  blows ; 
Molesby's  death,  111-13 

St.  Louis,  64  ;  intense  frost  at, 
65 ;  sawing  out  steamboats 
at,  69  ;  the  ice-floor  breaks  up 
at,  69,  70 

Sutlej,  the,  4 

Tecumseh,  129 

Texas :  arrival  hi,  147  ;  prospect 
ing  for  cattle  ranch,  150-6 ; 
camping  out,  151  ;  Secession 


movement  in,  157-60  ;  meeting 
in  the  Alamo  Plaza,  158,  159  ; 
Mounted  Riflemen,  164  ;  leaders 
in,  229,  230  ;  3rd  Regiment  of, 
282 ;  universal  conscription 
in,  319 ;  food  in,  323 ;  leave 
for  home,  465  ;  return  to,  466, 
468  ;  final  departure  from,  472 

Thompson  :  meeting  with,  at  Phil 
adelphia  ;  wants  to  farm  in 
Canada  or  States,  140  ;  start 
for  Texas,  141  ;  journey 
thither,  141-4 ;  "  Colonel," 
141  ;  sufferings  with  the  pack- 
pony,  154  ;  deal  with  Federals, 
175;  first  Indian  fight,  192; 
as  cook,  269 ;  sold  his  share 
of  ranch,  269,  270  ;  at  Browns 
ville  ;  has  yellow  fever,  301  ; 
his  life-story,  304-6  ;  death 
and  burial,  306 

Thompson,  Charlotte,  452 

Tornado,  a  Western,  114,  115 

Tramping,  8 

Turkey,  baked,  189 

Turkeys,  wild,  58 

Twig,  General,   162-4 

Vicksburg,  fall  of,  311 
Vidal,  the  half-breed,  289-92 
Vigilance     Committee,    the :     its 
handiwork    on    Salado    Creek, 
155  ;    how  Young  was  hanged, 
180-2  ;    and  the  young  Ranger 
was  treated,  196-8  ;    Asa  Min- 
sliul.    its   head,    199 ;     and   his 
rope,  200 

Vinton,  Jack,  220 ;  first  meeting 
with  Jaque,  the  elder,  461  ; 
Jaque's  bad  news  of  the  ranch, 
467  ;  Jaquo  takes  over  ranch, 
472 
Voices,  night,  422-4 

Walker,  Major  Amos,  11  ;  his 
family  and  farm,  13  ;  his 
opinion  of  Britain,  17 

Walker  (of  Kansas),  murder  of, 
118-20 


478 


INDEX 


Ward,  Artemus,  452 

Wasp,  General,  284-6;  scare  at 
Brownsville ;  burns  barracks 
and  cotton,  287,  288  ;  makes 
strategic  movement  to  the 
rear,  289  ;  his  protege  Vidal, 
and  his  doings  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  289-92 

Watson,  "  Colonel,"  66 

Westfall,  Dan,  of  the  Leona :  a 
great  trailer  and  hunter,  329  ; 
his  pastimes  and  business,  336  ; 
his '  story,  337-42  ;  ranch  on 


the  Leona,  337,  338  ;  the 
Lepans  attack,  339,  340 ; 
rescued  at  point  of  death, 
339,  340  ;  notches  on  his  rifle, 
342  ;  guides  through  unknown 
country,  359-61 

WThite  and  Black,  widening  gulf 
between,  442 

Williams,  Dan,  Lieutenant  :  his 
surprise  of  the  "  mott,"  380-2  ; 
rashness  and  death,  400 

Woodruff,  Seth,  60 

Wyoming  Court  House,  50,  5 1 


Printed  by  Haeell,  Watson  it  Viney,  Ld. ,  London  and  Ayletlury. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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2QMay'62J* 

REC'D  l_D 

MAY  8    1962 

u         -  >  •  -  1 
r~  •  1  1*  i 

JUN  i  o  1972  fi  5 

u£«ui  joir 

•372*9  AM    S  i 

APR  8    197? 

1 

'^ci&~  m   s 

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* 

LD  21A-50m-3,'62 
(C7097slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

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VC  51303 


